Paraguayan President vetoes cryptocurrency mining bill

Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez vetoed a bill regulating cryptocurrency mining and trading.

By Decree No. 7692 the Executive Branch fully objects to the bill aimed at regulating cryptocurrency mining in the country 👉 https://t.co/sDHUERhUe1 pic.twitter.com/VpgQij4AFh

— Presidencia Paraguay (@PresidenciaPy) August 29, 2022

In the president’s view, the high electricity consumption associated with mining digital assets could hinder the development of a sustainable national industry.

Senator Fernando Silva Facetti criticised Benítez’s decision. He noted that such an approach ‘is evidence of short-sightedness’.

1# Today we received from @PresidenciaPy the TOTAL VETO to Law ‘That regulates mining, marketing, intermediation, exchange, transfer, custody and administration of CRYPTOASSETS’ ignoring the existence of this activity that today operates in the regulatory shadow. (thread open)

— FernandoSilvaFacetti (@FSilvaFacetti) August 30, 2022

“The president is opposed to regulating a sector that requires oversight and undermines the ability to attract new investors and formalize hundreds of small and medium-sized companies operating in this industry,” wrote Facetti.

In late May, the document with amendments was approved by the country’s lower house of Parliament. The main change concerned transferring supervisory functions to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The bill envisaged licensing miners, as well as creating a registry of individuals and entities providing trading and custody services for digital assets to third parties.

In July, the initiative was endorsed by the Paraguayan Senate, after which the document was sent to the head of state for concurrence.

Earlier Congressman Carlos Rehala announced a bill concerning Bitcoin. Later he clarified that Paraguay does not intend to grant digital gold the status of legal tender, and plans to craft an ‘effective’ regulation of cryptocurrencies.

Earlier, Panama’s President Laurentino Cartiso also did not back the parliament’s document regulating the use of cryptocurrencies in its current form.

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