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- Wenia, Bancolombia Group’s digital asset subsidiary, integrated Chainlink’s Proof of Reserve protocol.
- The integration ensures Colombian Pesos fully back COPW.
Wenia, Bancolombia Group’s digital asset subsidiary, has integrated Chainlink’s Proof of Reserve (PoR) protocol to improve the transparency of its Colombian Peso-backed stablecoin, COPW. The announcement was made on July 25, a major milestone in the efforts to increase consumers’ trust in digital assets.
We're excited to announce that @weniaoficial—part of LatAm financial giant Bancolombia Group—is now using #Chainlink Proof of Reserve to secure its COPW stablecoin.
Why “this initiative marks a significant milestone in Colombia's digital asset landscape": https://t.co/4cz0lRMnA0 pic.twitter.com/ITrSMfgSBz
— Chainlink (@chainlink) July 25, 2024
Wenia’s use of Chainlink’s PoR solution helps guarantee that every COPW stablecoin issued is backed by Colombian Pesos. This on-chain data is available through the Wenia platform, which enhances its integrity. Pablo Arboleda, CEO of Wenia, emphasized the importance of this integration, stating,
“Through this collaboration, COPW users on the Wenia platform gain access to Chainlink’s secure and reliable on-chain PoR data, enhancing visibility into the reserves backing the stablecoin.”
The integration of PoR data is an essential factor that supports the use of digital assets to help enhance consumers’ trust in stablecoins and other tokenized products. Besides PoR, Wenia aims to utilize Chainlink’s Price Feed and Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol solutions for COPW soon.
Bancolombia’s Web3 Strategy
The Bancolombia Group introduced Wenia and COPW in early May. Wenia is a Bermuda-based company that provides trading, transfer, and custody services of Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Polygon (MATIC), USD Coin (USDC), and COPW issuance and redemption. At present, Menia and COPW are only available in Colombia.
However, Wenia plans to expand COPW into new markets and to “web3 platforms” in the future. The company has a target of recruiting 60,000 users in its first year of operation.
Juan Carlos Mora, the president of Bancolombia, stated that Wenia is a result of a decade of work focusing on the digital assets market. This move comes in the wake of a tremendous increase in the use of cryptocurrencies in the Colombian market in the past year.
Colombia’s Cryptocurrency Market Shows Significant Growth
The announcement said the partnership is aimed at meeting the increasing need for stablecoins in the Colombian market. Stablecoins now constitute 31% of crypto acquisitions in the country.
The digital asset industry, in particular, has been developing constantly in the country. A study by Chainanalysis in October 2023 shows that Colombia has about $200 million worth of cryptocurrency transactions and is in the 32nd position in the world and 4th in Latin America after Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico.
The ownership of digital assets in South America has grown from 25 million to 55 million since the beginning of 2023, as noted by Cristóbal Pereira, an organizer of the ETHChile conference. This is due to the increased awareness and usage of cryptocurrencies observed in the area.
The high demand for stablecoins and the risks of peer-to-peer transactions have forced users to spend more money in the over-the-counter (OTC) markets. COPW hopes to solve these problems by providing a credible, encrypted and regulated digital asset marketplace. As of press time, LINK was trading at $13.85, with a 24-hour trading volume of $199,112,321, up 3%.
