Bitcoin banned in Ecuador

[Baofeng]

In 2014, all the cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin was banned by the government in Ecuador. This was followed by the introduction of the country’s own digital currency, the Dinero Electrónico.

However, defiant Bitcoin users still continued using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. In fact, Bitcoin use in Ecuador has spiked due to the recent price rise.

Do you think that the Ecuador government will freely allow the use of Bitcoin as its popularity increases?

Obviously then banned it because they have their own digital currency with is the Dinero Electrónico. But for me, I speculate that there are Ecuadorians who are also bitcoin lovers and thus investing or doing trading underground. We can't forced them to accept bitcoin even it rose its popularity. But rest assured that they are going to miss a lot of opportunity if they didn't accept it.

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[bitbunnny]

For countries like Ecuador this doesn't surprise me. Since they have issued their own coin they thought this should be only one people are allowed to use. But we know that any ban never has stoped people from anything, sow Bitcoin users are also not afraid of that ban. But as long as the government supports their own cryptocurrency they will not allow Bitcoin to be used because that would be direct competition.

[FanatMonet]

In 2014, all the cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin was banned by the government in Ecuador. This was followed by the introduction of the country’s own digital currency, the Dinero Electrónico.

However, defiant Bitcoin users still continued using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. In fact, Bitcoin use in Ecuador has spiked due to the recent price rise.

Do you think that the Ecuador government will freely allow the use of Bitcoin as its popularity increases?

They can decide, it's completely unclear why they should limit its use, if in Ecuador US dollars are used, and only coins are issued in centimo. It is clear, if they had their own currency, as in Venezuela, and I do not even know what they are protecting

[tosmartak]

It is obvious the ban of bitcoin then was as a result of personal interest. The government’s move was “more precisely, a monopoly privilege as the Ecuadorian state has the exclusive power to put its own digital money into circulation via the central bank but the funniest part was that the law wasn't really enforced as its use has not halted in Ecuador. There are buyers and sellers in the country who still list themselves on Localbitcoins.com. Apparently, the government will be compelled to embrace it anytime soon whether they like it or not.

[FlightyPouch]

In 2014, all the cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin was banned by the government in Ecuador. This was followed by the introduction of the country’s own digital currency, the Dinero Electrónico.

However, defiant Bitcoin users still continued using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. In fact, Bitcoin use in Ecuador has spiked due to the recent price rise.

Do you think that the Ecuador government will freely allow the use of Bitcoin as its popularity increases?

They can decide, it's completely unclear why they should limit its use, if in Ecuador US dollars are used, and only coins are issued in centimo. It is clear, if they had their own currency, as in Venezuela, and I do not even know what they are protecting

It is their country, they can do whatever they want as long as they are not hurting other people and country or breaking some rules. But I don't think they need to ban bitcoin, at the same time they released their own digital currency, I am just thinking one reason, maybe they just want to make their digital currency be known to the market.

[sebastianpenguen]

This did not make that much sense to me me since Equador is really not important for bitcoin community. Their government is better focuss on the internal problems rather than bitcoin.

[boyptc]

Do you think that the Ecuador government will freely allow the use of Bitcoin as its popularity increases?

I guess they will, once they realized that bitcoin can give them a better economic stability they will soon remove the ban on bitcoin. And the people will be their basis for the adoption of it. If they noticed that there is a tax income decrease for each year and the main reason of it is bitcoin, I doubt it they will continue the ban.

[d5000]

Cryptocurrencies and Bitcoin were never explicitly banned in Ecuador. The law all media quote as the "Bitcoin ban" is actually this one:

CÓDIGO ORGANICO MONETARIO Y FINANCIERO

and in particular, Article 98:

Prohibiciones.
Se prohíbe de forma general:
1.  La  emisión,  reproducción,  imitación,  falsificación  o  simulación  total  o  parcial  de moneda  y  dinero,  así  como  su  circulación  por  cualquier  medio,  soporte  o  forma  de representación;
2.  La  alteración  o  transformación  de  la  moneda  metálica  en  circulación,  mediante  su fundición  o  cualquier  otro  procedimiento  que  tenga  por  objeto  aprovechar  su  contenido metálico.   Esta   prohibición   no   es   aplicable   al Banco   Central   del   Ecuador;   y,
3. La circulación y recepción de moneda y dinero no autorizados por la Junta de Política y Regulación Monetaria y Financiera.

Even if you don't speak Spanish, you can see that "Bitcoin" or "Cryptocurrencies" are never mentioned in this article.

Actually, the law is prohibiting the emission of "money" not authorized by the State. But "money" ("moneda") in Article 94 is defined as "the United States Dollar" (yes, Ecuador is using the dollar). So actually what is prohibited is probably only the emission of tokens that are replacing the US dollar (e.g. TetherUSD should be banned then).

Conclusion: Although the law definitively bans some forms of unauthorized digital currencies, it is totally open if cryptocurrencies are also banned, because they haven't a value tied to the US dollar and therefore do not qualify as "money" as defined in Article 94. It is a legal vacuum or grey area - someone would actually have to file  a lawsuit to clarify the status of cryptocurrencies in Ecuador.

In the recent article this situation is also cited (Source):

The prohibition, however, does not ban digital currency outright.[…] Ecuadorian officials have neglected to punish defiant bitcoin use.

[Sylw83]

they are staying behind for a few years then agree for BTC

[szpalata]

they are staying behind for a few years then agree for BTC

Well it's their loss, everyone is happy and wanting to be a part of Bitcoin but if you have decided otherwise then it's fine we wish them luck with their cryptocurrency but we are headed for the moon and they might have to come look for us there.

[Kprawn]

In 2014, all the cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin was banned by the government in Ecuador. This was followed by the introduction of the country’s own digital currency, the Dinero Electrónico.

However, defiant Bitcoin users still continued using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. In fact, Bitcoin use in Ecuador has spiked due to the recent price rise.

Do you think that the Ecuador government will freely allow the use of Bitcoin as its popularity increases?

Governments usually overreact when you act defiantly against their totalitarian rules and regulations. So when you push, you should expect them

to push back. I would not trade bitcoin openly if I were living there... I would rather buy it from people I know and trust and store them away

from my home. {People get raided, when the government banned something and they know you are using that illegal commodity or currency} 

[Rahar02]

Same as Ecuador Russia banned the usage of bitcoin into the country. This didn't last long, and in a short the ban of the bitcoin into the country was taken back and the government too has focused on making use of the technology behind bitcoin for the effective functioning of the country's financial system.

How long bitcoin was banned in Russia? as Ecuador has banned bitcoin for 3 years, and this is 3rd world countries which has slow economic growth compare to Russia. Furthermore, if their citizens proven have bitcoin will ended with confiscate and the risk of prosecution as well that prevent people from trade it freely. Ecuador government maybe banned cryptocurrencies to eliminate rivals of the country’s own digital currency, the Dinero Electrónico.

[btccashacc]

In 2014, all the cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin was banned by the government in Ecuador. This was followed by the introduction of the country’s own digital currency, the Dinero Electrónico.

However, defiant Bitcoin users still continued using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. In fact, Bitcoin use in Ecuador has spiked due to the recent price rise.

Do you think that the Ecuador government will freely allow the use of Bitcoin as its popularity increases?

Bitcoin should not be banned by their government since they can earn revenue by taxing it. In some 3rd countries bitcoin is regulated as stock as like gold,silver etc. I think their government only worried about what if their official currency can be replaced by the bitcoin, they think bitcoin is a bigest competitor for them . In fact banning bitcoin is not making bitcoin totally paralyzed, with the pseudonymous nature of it they still use it whatever happen in their country. Sooner or later they the government will realize it's existence and maybe regulate and make it legal.

[crazyivan]

Who cares about Ecuador and their position about crypto. You do understand it s big time hypocrisy banning BTC and then introducing their own crypto. South American countries really need to get rid of this govt control socialist oriented economies.

[stompix]

In 2014, all the cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin was banned by the government in Ecuador. This was followed by the introduction of the country’s own digital currency, the Dinero Electrónico.

However, defiant Bitcoin users still continued using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. In fact, Bitcoin use in Ecuador has spiked due to the recent price rise.

Do you think that the Ecuador government will freely allow the use of Bitcoin as its popularity increases?

Dinero electronico is nothing like a crypto
http://www.sri.gob.ec/web/guest/dinero-electronico

Second and most importantly Ecuador uses the $ as a currency so it's not about the control.

Third, let's not start another bitcoin is banned in Ecuador thread when this happened two years ago.

Who cares about Ecuador and their position about crypto. You do understand it s big time hypocrisy banning BTC and then introducing their own crypto. South American countries really need to get rid of this govt control socialist oriented economies.

Can I rolf?

When some stupid blogs announces Ghana is embracing bitcoin everybody is talking about it like it's a member of G7 , when Ecuador "bans" bitcoin , who cares about it....double st much?

[Gheka]

In 2014, all the cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin was banned by the government in Ecuador. This was followed by the introduction of the country’s own digital currency, the Dinero Electrónico.

However, defiant Bitcoin users still continued using Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. In fact, Bitcoin use in Ecuador has spiked due to the recent price rise.

Do you think that the Ecuador government will freely allow the use of Bitcoin as its popularity increases?

Bitcoin should not be banned by their government since they can earn revenue by taxing it. In some 3rd countries bitcoin is regulated as stock as like gold,silver etc. I think their government only worried about what if their official currency can be replaced by the bitcoin, they think bitcoin is a bigest competitor for them . In fact banning bitcoin is not making bitcoin totally paralyzed, with the pseudonymous nature of it they still use it whatever happen in their country. Sooner or later they the government will realize it's existence and maybe regulate and make it legal.

With some countries they banned bitcoins because they were so worried about what bitcoin could do to their country. Bitcoins have a big impact on the economy and cause corruption, so Ecuador banned bitcoin also because it brought bad consequences for their country. However, in the future, if the value of bitcoin continues to increase and is widely accepted by many countries, perhaps ecuador will also review bitcoin and remove the ban on its use

[iamTom123]

A third world country like Ecuador can ban anything they want but they will not have the technical know-how and enough man power to enforce the ban. They have other more pressing matters in their country like violent crimes, corruption, poverty and other crimes.

You just said it well. Bitcoin is getting the recognition of big and influential countries and soon countries which banned Bitcoin can be forced to rethink their arguments against cryptocurrency. And soon they will also realized that even if they banned Bitcoin it would be really impossible to stop the trend and they could not police all people at all times. A government-sponsored cryptocurrency can be a good idea on facade but in the long run it may not really work at all (though I can be wrong here).

[infer]

This did not make that much sense to me me since Equador is really not important for bitcoin community. Their government is better focuss on the internal problems rather than bitcoin.

every country on this planet is a piece which makes bitcoin stronger and stronger. Do not ever abandon any country, they are all good to bitcoin

[ActiveP]

funny, the ecuadorian government is trying to play monopoly with their economy. Banning bitcoin has never worked, and I believe it is just a matter of time before they rescind that decision.

With the change of government and Rafael correa gone,  surely it will be reversed. My understanding is that, people openly use bitcoin in Ecuador despite the government best efforts to curb it.

They even have an Ecuadorian bitcoin community,  and they recently celebrated bitcoin pizza day on May 22.

https://news.bitcoin.com/use-bitcoin-ecuador-grow-government-ban/

[prieaji]

Probably because the law of bitcoin is banned in Ecuador, this is a triangular country that forbids bitcoin or whatever they want but they lack the technical and enough energy to impose it.