Colombia’s Largest Bank Taps Chainlink Proof of Reserves For COPW Stablecoin

The digital asset subsidiary of Bancolombia Group, the largest bank in Colombia, has tapped Chainlink to bolster the transparency of its Colombian Peso-backed stablecoin.

On July 25, Wenia announced it integrated Chainlink’s Proof of Reserve (PoR) protocol for its COPW stablecoin. The move allows anyone to access Chainlink’s on-chain data from the Wenia platform to confirm that COPW is fully backed by Colombian Pesos.

“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,” said Pablo Arboleda, CEO of Wenia. “On-chain Proof of Reserve data is a critical component to digital asset adoption, serving as a stepping stone toward increasing consumer confidence in using stablecoins and other tokenized assets.”

Menia is also expected to integrate Chainlink’s Price Feed and Cross-Chain Interoperability Protocol products for COPW in the near future.

Chainlink (LINK)’s price is down 6.54% in the past 24 hours amid a broader digital asset pullback, according to CoinGecko.

Bancolombia’s web3 entrance

Bancolombia Group launched Wenia and COPW in early May. Wenia is a Bermuda-based company that offers trading, transfers, and custody for Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Polygon (MATIC), and USD Coin (USDC), in addition to COPW mints and redemptions.

While Menia and COPW are currently exclusively available in Colombia, Wenia plans to expand the COPW into new markets and onto “web3 platforms” moving forward. Wenia hopes to onboard 60,000 users in its first year of operation.

Juan Carlos Mora, the president of Bancolombia, told Forbes that Wenia’s launch followed a decade of research into the digital asset industry.

Bancolombia’s entrance into the web3 sector follows the Colombian market enjoying significant growth over the past 12 months.

According to October 2023 research from Chainanalysis, Colombian users execute roughly $200 million worth of cryptocurrency. The activity ranks Colombia 32nd by digital asset adoption worldwide, and fourth among Latin American nations behind Argentina, Brazil, and Mexico.

According to Cristóbal Pereira, one of the main organizers behind the ETHChile conference, ownership in South America grew 116% to 55 million from 25 million since the start of 2023.

Related: Outside Devcon Colombians Search For Pragmatic Ways to Use Crypto