Jamaicans will, in a few weeks, will be able to buy cryptocurrencies through their local brokers in the second trial of the Blockstation platform by the Jamaica Stock Exchange, JSE, which comes amid a 25 per cent rise in the value of Bitcoin since April.
“We expect to have actual clients on board in the next couple of weeks,” said Managing Director at Barita Investments Ian McNaughton, who is also the current chairman of the JSE.
Last Friday, Canadian company Blockstation and the JSE signed an agreement paving the way for the Jamaican exchange to become one of the few in the world to allow live trading of cryptocurrencies.
The platform was reportedly first tested in January of this year.
“In this our second phase, we are onboarding our international brokers and their local clients,” said Blockstation co-founder Jai Waterman, who is also the company’s chief technology officer. “This is the ultimate goal to allow trading. Maybe we will add additional processes for the compliance departments, but we are going to make sure everything runs pretty smooth,” he said.
There are many online platforms independent of stock exchanges that allow persons to trade cryptocurrencies. Jamaicans, however, have found it difficult to access those platforms as they tend to reject credit cards linked to Jamaica.
The Blockstation platform will eliminate that blockade through the JSE.
Bitcoin, which is the most popular cryptocurrency, hit the headlines in December 2017 when it surpassed US$17,000 for one bitcoin. Its value ebbed to US$2,000 in 2018 and started much of 2019 at US$4,000, before jumping this month to over US$5,000 in April.
For Jamaican crypto investors, the cost to do transactions will vary between brokers, but it’s understood that it is likely to hover around 0.3 per cent of the value of the transaction. Five brokerages are now involved in the trial, including Barita, which indicates that it will start signing up clients shortly. Another, Sagicor Investments Jamaica, also says it will also be inviting select clients to trade.
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