The Central Bank of Cuba (BCC) has taken a step toward transforming Cuba’s complex relationship with digital money by granting the first 10 operating licenses for the use of virtual assets in international payments to a selected group of companies.
The measure was formalized through Resolution 4/2026 and published in the Official Gazette on March 23, after years of approaching digital assets in theory but ultimately not being translated into practice.
The timing chosen for this launch was surprising, as Cuba regulated virtual assets in 2021 and threatened to introduce them in 2022, but these tools remained inoperable for almost five years.
The fact that these licenses are arriving just now suggests that: Economic exigencies finally overcame bureaucratic wariness. The island suffers from a chronic foreign exchange shortage that is straining its import capacity, forcing the country to look for relief valves outside the traditional banking system.
The list of authorized entities reflects the new structure of the Cuban economy, with 9 out of 10 entities being private micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). They include names such as Ingenius Tecnologías, Dofleini, La Calesa Real and Pasarela Digital, but only one company supports a mixed capital model under the signature of health products manufacturer Prosa.
Use of virtual currency under strict supervision
For these companies, this authorization will not be a blank check, as regulations require cross-border payments to be directly tied to corporate objectives.
Based on this logic, software development entities can use cryptocurrencies to pay for external servers, but financial speculation is prohibited. On top of that, Must operate exclusively through already licensed supplierslike the Lithuanian company EBIORO UAB, which received an intermediary permit at the beginning of 2025.
The possibility that the license granted to the Lithuanian company allowed the foreign company to provide the technology platform but did not allow the Cuban company to use it in commercial transactions has been ruled out. The new resolution fundamentally changes the scenario as the BCC will grant licenses to 10 specific companies that can contract services to move capital abroad.
The central bank has designed a licensed monitoring scheme. The initial validity period is one year only and will be reported quarterly. be familiar with. If a company does not accurately report the assets, usage, and suppliers used, the license will be immediately revoked.
This institutional enthusiasm is in response to a complex reality: the adoption of crypto assets has given Cuba the agility to jump over financial hurdles, but it is also exposed to the volatility of digital markets. The BCC Crypto Asset Group therefore emphasizes that these proposals have been approved under strict criteria of socio-economic benefits.
After years of conceptual flirtation with digital codes, the Cuban state has decided to take action through a controlled experiment in search of oxygen, now that North American dollars are arriving much less than before.
While the state establishes this strict framework; At street level, people learned how to overcome limitations Through building sovereign ecosystems. As reported by CriptoNoticias, communities like CubaBitcoin have developed tools to withstand 20-hour power outages and salaries just shy of $20.
(Tag translation) Cryptocurrency
