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In 2022, Colombia has far exceeded all other Latin American countries in bitcoin trading volume reaching approximately $27 million(USD) in the last six months. With this scale of adoption in the country the government of Colombia announced plans to launch it's own digital currency. It was stated that one of the purposes would be to curb tax evasion and enhance tracing of financial transactions made by citizens.⁽²⁾

In December 2021, Gemini announced a partnership with Colombia's largest bank, Bancolombia, to facilitate crypto trading in Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) through the bank services.⁽³⁾

Even with this partnership one of the easiest ways to buy Bitcoin in Colombia is through cryptocurrency exchanges. There are several exchanges offering Bitcoin in Colombia in the list shown above. You can easily select one based on your requirements and preferences using our guide. Each exchange will have different transaction fees, withdrawal limits, payment modes, and verification processes that need to be considered.

Additionally, certain exchanges might require the Bitcoin buyer to purchase a digital wallet before they are able to buy the digital currency on their exchange. Even if the exchange does not require a wallet, it is recommended that you have a wallet of your own for security reasons (and preferably, a hardware wallet).

Another way to buy Bitcoins in Colombia is through automated teller machines (ATMs). These ATMs allow users to instantly purchase and sell cryptocurrency using cash, however most of them require at least a phone number, so they aren't totally private.

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Me Coin Scam

In August of 2018, the founders of Me Coin closed up shop and skipped the country with $60 million worth of clients money.

However, no one should have been surprised. Me Coin was offering its customers a guaranteed 50% monthly returns on investment. Such returns are impossible to guarantee, and can only be achieved through organizing the company on a Ponzi scheme.⁽⁴⁾

When the founders could no longer keep the illusion going, they simply took everyone's money and left.

All in all, it is believed that more than 4,000 customers were scammed out of their Bitcoins, many of whom invested into Me Coin after personally meeting the founders face to face across the country.

SBlock-Trade Scam

In July of 2020, the Better Business Bureau issued a warning about a company calling itself SBlock-Trade. The company purports to be an online investment platform for cryptocurrencies and forex trading.⁽⁵⁾

SBlock-Trade is reported to solicit customers to send them Bitcoin and in return they will return an ROI. They claim to have made 187% on their investments over 60 days, and guarantees returns of 30-50% within the first week.

There are several red flags about this company, most notably that it claims to be based out of the Canadian city of Nova Scotia, even though there is no city of Nova Scotia in Canada (NS is a province, similar to a state). They also claim to have offices in the United Kingdom and Bogota, Colombia.

Canadian officials have confirmed that SBlock-Trade is not licensed to operate such an exchange in Canada so customers should beware.

Its website is, however, no longer running.

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Does Coinbase work in Colombia?

Coinbase ONLY allows crypto-to-crypto conversions conversions for Colombian resident as of September of 2020.

Where Can I Find a Bitcoin ATM in Colombia?

You can find Bitcoin ATMs all over Colombia.

You can use our Bitcoin ATM finder tool to find one near you.

Bitcoin ATMs are a very hot commodity in Colombia due to its close proximity to Venezuela.

As you may or may not know, not long ago, Venezuela was the wealthiest country in South America due to its vast oil reserves. Its then leader Hugo Chavez eventually nationalized the oil reserves began to use the proceeds to fund large welfare programs for the country's poor.

When oil prices collapsed and overspending on programs bloated, the economy died

Unfortunately, this resulted in massive debt and overspending that the country could not handle. This was especially true after oil prices drastically fell.

To remedy the situation, Chavez began printing money so to create programs that would pay for various necessities of the people, but this resulted in hyperinflation that continues to today under leader Nicolas Maduro. It's so bad in fact, that the currency is essentially worthless. Bitcoin became a useful tool for Venezuelans, however attaining it can be difficult except through bribery and corruption.

One avenue that has been very popular is for relatives in neighboring Colombia to buy it at ATMs and send it to Venezuelans across the border. Sometimes Venezuelans will also cross the border themselves and buy Bitcoin at the ATMs.⁽⁶⁾

For a more in depth look at how Colombia is affected by the civil unrest and hyperinflation in Venezuela, and the role Bitcoin is playing as an exit hatch for Venezuelans, check out Peter McCormack's Defiance TV episode on this topic below:

What is the price of Bitcoin in Colombia?

Bitcoin prices are changing every second.

The best way to find the most up-to-date price of Bitcoin is to check out our Bitcoin price page.

Which stores accept Bitcoin in Colombia?

Bitcoin is accepted at lots of stores and service providers all over Colombia. So many, in fact, that we couldn't possibly list them all here. However, you can find specific kinds of services and goods filterable on a map over at coinmap.org.

The colored sections indicate areas where there is heavier acceptance of Bitcoin