ARTICLE | Notary and Cryptocurrency Novelties Impact on Investment in Portugal

There are novelties in terms of Notary and Cryptocurrency, which may represent a great evolution for investment in Portugal:

The Bank of Portugal has granted Bison Bank permission to transact cryptocurrency.

Bison Bank is the first bank in Portugal to obtain a license to operate in the crypto market, through Bison Digital Assets, which will operate in the virtual assets custody and exchange business.

This new activity will have a main focus on high net worth clients, with no details yet revealed about which digital assets it will allow to trade. The institution says it will offer "a new and broader set of products and services that, in line with market trends and demand in this new segment, match their overall present needs in financial and virtual assets through a regulated and secure platform and future-proofing.

We believe this can have significant positive effects on Golden Visa investments, as it makes investing easier and of course opens a huge door to other types of investors with a less traditional profile.

Notaries will be able to perform deeds and other acts from a distance through an online platform.

Decree-Law 126/2021 of December 30 came into effect on last April 4, establishing the temporary legal regime applicable to the performance, through videoconferencing, of authentic acts, terms of authentication of private documents and acknowledgements.

This allows acts to be performed by videoconference, making a new and relevant service provision tool, with a high impact on legal commerce, available to citizens, companies, and professionals. It innovates in the way that this type of acts can be performed by professionals, in the strict respect of their competences, without foregoing, however, the observance of the formalities legally imposed for the practice of acts and offering identical guarantees of security and authenticity.

These acts are performed through videoconference, using a computer platform provided by the Ministry of Justice and managed by the Institute of Registration and Notary Affairs, I. P. (IRN, I. P.).