Amid warnings from its central bank, the Argentinean Bitcoin community is still expanding apace with the opening of Bitex.la, a pioneering local exchange for Bitcoin and Litecoin.

Billed as “the first Hispanic market for buying and selling Litecoin and Bitcoin in real-time,” Bitex.la is the brainchild of Argentine Nubis Bruno, and is currently active in several countries after securing a US$2 million investment from a private financial consultants group based in London.

“Right efforts”

Bruno explains the expansion into Latin America is primarily due to the remittance needs faced by countries such as Argentina, where, as Cointelegraph recently reported, the Bitcoin scene is developing at a frenzied pace. COO Francisco Buero said in a press release:

“We understand an important part of our target userbase as under-banked, so we are making our best effort to bring more funding mechanisms for them. We are working toward including less sophisticated funding options like OKPay, EGOPay, AstroPay, Western Union & Money Gram.”

As has become standard practice among emerging Bitcoin entities, Bitex employs state-of-the-art SSL and AES-256 security and provides near 100% cold storage for Bitcoin and Litecoin deposits. Founder Nubis Bruno stated:

“We believe, since Bitcoin is at a stage of early adoption, making the right efforts now we will award us a privileged position in the future.”

The exchange’s arrival will more than likely be greeted with considerable rejoicing among Argentinean’s ardent Bitcoin supporters, for whom this week’s bank warning will feel even more toothless than its statement’s wording signifies internationally.

“The so-called ‘virtual coins’ are not issued by the Central Bank or any other international monetary authorities therefore have no legal tender and have no support,” the statement reads, “…Virtual currencies have shown great volatility so far and have experienced substantial price changes. These implications, the risks associated with transactions involving the purchase or use of virtual coins as payment, are borne by users.”

Legislation it seems is hence far off, giving scope for the local Bitcoin community to develop its household names and gain a significant following. As one of the first on the ground, Bitex is well placed to do so.