Key Points
— Cuba’s central bank granted its first crypto licenses, authorizing ten companies to use digital assets for cross-border payments under Resolution 4/2026
— Nine of the ten licensed entities are private small businesses spanning technology, gastronomy, and transport, with one state-linked mixed enterprise
— Transactions must be routed through a Lithuanian-registered provider founded by a Cuban expatriate, with speculation and domestic use strictly prohibited
— Cuba’s chronic foreign-currency shortage and an undeclared banking freeze on dollar accounts are driving the shift toward digital assets
The first Cuba crypto licenses are here, with the Central Bank authorizing ten companies to use digital assets for cross-border payments in a move that signals how deeply the island’s foreign-currency crisis has reshaped its financial architecture. The Rio Times, the Latin American financial news outlet, examines what the new permits mean for Cuba’s struggling private sector and the broader experiment with cryptocurrency regulation in the Caribbean.
What the Cuba Crypto Licenses Permit
Resolution 4/2026, published in the Official Gazette on March 23, authorizes nine private small and medium-sized enterprises and one mixed-ownership company to conduct international payments using virtual assets. The licensed firms span several sectors: six operate in technology and digital services, while the remaining four work in gastronomy, transport, and light manufacturing.
The resolution was signed by Central Bank president Juana Lilia Delgado Portal in January but took two months to reach publication. It takes effect seven business days after its gazette appearance, meaning permits become operational in early April.
Strict Boundaries on Crypto Licenses and Operations
The permissions come with tight controls. Companies may only use cryptocurrency for cross-border payments tied directly to their registered business activities, and domestic transactions, speculative trading, and operations outside licensed platforms are explicitly prohibited.
Each firm must route transactions through a virtual-asset service provider licensed by the Central Bank. The only known holder of such a license is EBIORO UAB, a Lithuania-registered company founded in 2019 by Cuban expatriate Yulexi Matienzo Carcasés, which received its Cuban permit in early 2025.
Licensed businesses must submit quarterly reports detailing transaction volumes and platforms used. Authorization lasts one year, with renewal requiring a request at least sixty days before expiration.
A Foreign-Currency Crisis Behind the Shift
The resolution did not emerge in a vacuum. Cuba has been operating under an undeclared banking freeze since mid-2025, when authorities restricted foreign companies from withdrawing dollar deposits held in state-run banks. The peso has collapsed to roughly 510 per dollar on the informal market, and the economy has contracted an estimated 11% since 2020.
U.S. sanctions and the loss of Venezuelan oil shipments have severed most conventional banking channels. For private firms that need to import supplies or pay foreign partners, traditional wire transfers have become nearly impossible, making cryptocurrency an alternative that bypasses the correspondent banking network.
Five Years of Regulatory Groundwork
The legal foundation predates the current crisis. Resolution 215 of 2021 first recognized virtual assets and gave the Central Bank authority to license service providers, while a follow-up resolution in April 2022 formalized the application process and created a Cryptoassets Group to evaluate proposals.
The broader context includes Cuba’s recent opening to diaspora investment, which allows overseas Cubans to own businesses and obtain licenses to operate as virtual-asset service providers. Resolution 4/2026 converts that framework from theory into practice, making the Cuba crypto licenses the first concrete permits issued to specific private businesses under the five-year-old regulatory architecture.
What Comes Next for Cuba’s Crypto Experiment
Analysts note the experiment remains deliberately small. Ten firms with annual, revocable permits and mandatory state oversight represent a cautious pilot, not a broad adoption strategy. The Central Bank’s own gazette warns that virtual assets are volatile, irreversible, and not backed by the state.
Yet for Latin America’s expanding cryptocurrency landscape, Cuba’s step is significant precisely because it is driven by necessity rather than innovation enthusiasm. Whether the pilot expands will depend on how effectively these firms can settle international payments through digital assets — and whether Havana can maintain oversight of a technology designed to operate beyond state control.