Paraguay clarifies Bitcoin legislation initiative

Paraguay does not plan to grant Bitcoin the status of legal tender, but to develop an ‘effective’ regulation of cryptocurrencies. This was stated by Congressman Carlos Rejala in an interview with Reuters.

‘This is a bill on digital assets, and it differs from El Salvador’s initiative, because they adopt it [Bitcoin] as legal tender, and in Paraguay it will be impossible to do something like that,’ the agency’s source stressed.

According to him, authorities intend to involve regulatory bodies and banks in setting up the regulatory framework. Rejala added that Paraguay wants to be a ‘cryptocurrency-friendly country’.

Earlier, Congressman announced the bill concerning Bitcoin. He said the document would be presented in Parliament on July 14.

Johns Hopkins University professor Steve Hanke, who warned about the collapse of El Salvador’s economy after the legalization of the digital gold, called the idea of regulation ‘excellent’.

It looks like the backlash to El Salvador’s #Bitcoin legal tender (actually, FORCED tender) law has scared some sense into Paraguayan Congressman @carlitosrejala. He now admits that he’s not trying to make bitcoin legal tender. Good idea.https://t.co/t4eKL7CKZ3

— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) June 27, 2021

Earlier in June, the Salvadoran parliament passed the bill on recognizing Bitcoin as legal tender.

JPMorgan experts doubted that the decision would bring tangible economic benefits. ForkLog’s surveyed experts concluded that this could equally spur both investment inflows into El Salvador and capital outflows.

On 25 June, the head of state Nayib Bukele presented the cryptocurrency wallet Chivo. After registration in the app, every adult resident of El Salvador will receive $30 in Bitcoin.

The American operator of cryptocurrency ATMs Athena Bitcoin has already announced plans to deploy 1500 devices across the country.

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