Gabriel Silver, a member of the Panamanian Congress, has floated a invoice designed to make bitcoin (BTC) and different cryptocurrencies authorized tender in all sectors of the nation’s economic system. The bill also seeks to make Panama a hotbed for blockchain-focused businesses by implementing amenable crypto regulations in the state, according to reports on September 7, 2021.
Panama Set Sights on Crypto Regulation
Final June, when El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele first hinted at making bitcoin authorized tender within the nation, Panamanian Congressman, Gabriel Silva recommended the transfer, while also buttressing the need for Panama to fully embrace innovative technologies like crypto.
“That is necessary. And Panama can’t be left behind. If we want to be a true technology and entrepreneurship hub, we have to support cryptocurrencies,” Silva declared at the time.
Quick ahead to September 7, 2021, and Congressman Silva has introduced through Twitter that he has now submitted a cryptocurrency regulation invoice to Congress. As stated in his tweet, the proposed “Crypto Law” seeks to make Panama a hotbed for innovative technologies in order to boost transparency in the government, while also creating jobs for the masses.
Silva tweeted:
“At present, we current the Crypto Legislation. We seek to make Panama a country compatible with the blockchain, crypto assets, and the Internet. This has the potential to create hundreds of jobs, appeal to funding and make the federal government clear.”
Silva’s Crypto Bill Gets Full Support
Coincidentally, Silva’s Crypto Law proposal is coming on the same day El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law takes effect.
Nonetheless, in contrast to the latter, which initially acquired critical criticisms and pushbacks from some Salvadoran politicians, the lawmaker has hinted that the bill has gained the full backing of both the ruling and opposition parties in the state.
The U.S. greenback has been Panama’s official authorized tender since 1904. However, If the Crypto Law gets approved, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies will also become accepted payment options in all spheres of the Panamanian economy.
Conventional monetary establishments resembling banks shall be allowed to deal with crypto, additional boosting the legality of cryptocurrencies, while also attracting crypto-focused businesses such as exchanges to the country.
That’s not all, the invoice additionally seeks to make the nation a decentralized autonomous group (DAO), digitize the identity of residents and legal entities via blockchain technology, whereas additionally permitting corporations to tokenize their securities with distributed ledger know-how (DLT).
“Panama has all the potential to be a digital identity provider for the rest of the world as Estonia has done with its digital residency program. Essentially the most futuristic imaginative and prescient is that Panama has to turn out to be a DAO,” Felipe Echandi, a Panamian crypto entrepreneur informed Coindesk.
Importantly, Silva has also hinted that he’s been holding talks with entities that would make Panama’s crypto integration project as smooth as possible, including the Ministry of Finance, and the National Bank, amongst others. And thus far, suggestions has been acquired from quite a few stakeholders, together with bitcoiners, authorized practitioners, and crypto-based companies.
