Crypto adoption in Latin America keeps rising across the board, with many countries discussing bills that aim to prepare the ground for a proper regulatory environment for related businesses.
Panama and Brazil are two of the nations that are advancing faster toward regulating the crypto sphere, as some bills have been passed by their respective Parliaments, and local MPs propose a regulatory framework to work on bills.
As reported recently by Finance Magnates, Argentina is becoming the first Latin American crypto-friendly country in adoption for a number of use cases, being in the third place of the global ranking made by Fast Private Jet, an Italy-based business aviation company. However, it is still far from being friendly regarding regulatory affairs.
According to Statista, Argentina, Brazil and Colombia have the biggest share in terms of crypto adoption in the region, per data from 2019 to 2021. Although Bitcoin (BTC) was officialized as a legal tender in El Salvador, it is not receiving wide adoption as expected.
Panama's Crypto Law
Returning to the case of Panama, Gabriel Silva, the MP responsible for the draft law named ‘Crypto Law: Making Panama compatible with the digital economy, blockchain, crypto assets, and the Internet’, took to Twitter to celebrate the passing of his bill in the third reading of the legislature. President Nito Cortizo still needs to sign the bill before it becomes law, but this process should be a formality and is expected to be completed in the coming weeks.
As in El Salvador, Silva previously stated that his bill seeks to open doors to other tokens, not just Bitcoin. In essence, the bill sets up a system of taxation for crypto users, but perhaps more importantly, it legalizes the use of Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH) and a group of altcoins as official means of payment.
Brazil Approves Another Crypto-Friendly Bill
Now, let's take a look at Brazil. According to a report in Senado Noticias, the Brazilian Senate has approved another private member’s cryptocurrency bill that creates legal terminology for crypto assets and virtual asset service providers (VASPs, as the Financial Action Task Force knows them).
As part of the draft law, a regulatory body for crypto is mandated, as well as the creation of a new criminal offense to deal with ‘fraud related to the provision of services for virtual, financial or securities assets’. Violators will face up to two years in prison and fines. However, the bill proposes a number of crypto-positive measures, including simplified VASP registration protocols, as well as tax breaks for miners who use renewable energy sources.
Crypto regulation keeps advancing by leaps and bounds in the region, the upcoming months will be critical due to the Presidential elections set to take place in crypto-friendly countries like Colombia.
