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With the rapid growth of the crypto sector worldwide, governments are in various stages of putting up regulations that will govern the digital assets industry in their country. Paraguay is inching closer to regulating crypto activities with the recent approval of the Bitcoin bill by the Senate.
A bill that seeks to regulate the mining and trading of Bitcoin and other cryptos passed the Senate on Thursday, December 16, according to Nasdaq.com. Senator Fernando Silva Facetti who co-authored the bill said that the legislation will be up for discussion by the country’s Chamber of Deputies in 2022.
Unlike El Salvador’s case, the proposed bill will not make Bitcoin a legal tender in Paraguay. However, it will subject Bitcoin mining to increased regulatory security and aims to offer better investor protections from companies that are offering Bitcoin services.
“With this, we want to welcome the innovation of cryptocurrencies in Paraguay to the world,” Paraguayan Congressman Carlitos Rejala told Bitcoin Magazine in July. “This is the result of a very strong and arduous teamwork of many experts in the field, both local and foreign.”
The bill will recognize crypto mining as an industry while ensuring that miners have access to the country’s surplus electricity for the operations, according to Cryptopotato.com. Companies and individuals interested in mining Bitcoin or other cryptos will need to request authorization for industrial energy consumption. They will also need to apply for a license to mine crypto.
Once the bill is passed, the Industry and Commerce Secretariat, along with the National Securities Commission, Anti-Money Laundering Office, and National Electricity Administration, will regulate the crypto mining industry.
The bill also proposed a registry for companies or individuals that want to provide crypto trading or custody services for third parties. “Regarding transactions with crypto assets, the National Securities Commission will establish the registration requirements for intervening agents for negotiation, compensation, custody, and intermediation in the securities market,” Silva Facetti said in a tweet.
