Lawmakers say the crypto legislation is more robust than El Salvador’s digital asset measures and aims to make the country a favorable location for crypto business.
Panama has joined the growing list of countries that have moved forward with cryptocurrency legislation after the National Assembly passed a bill that allows citizens to use digital assets for public and private business.
Should the country’s President Laurentino Cortizo go ahead and sign the bill into law, Panamanians will also be able to pay their taxes using cryptocurrency.
According to a Reuters report, the project will also allow citizens to buy goods and services in cryptocurrencies at any legally operated civil or commercial business. Speaking during an interview with the local media, Gabriel Silva, a member of the National Assembly and one of the lawmakers promoting the bill, said:
“This bill seeks for Panama to become a hub of technology innovation in Latin America.”
Panama seeks to become Crypto Hub
The independent lawmaker who sponsored the bill explained that the law was broader in scope than the law passed by El Salvador last year that made Bitcoin legal tender. The bill also covers matters related to the trade and use of digital assets, the issuance of digital securities, new payment systems, and the tokenization of precious metals. The law aims to promote
“The use of distributed ledger technology and blockchain in the digitalization of the identity of natural and legal persons in or from the Republic of Panama and as a means to make the public function transparent,”
Tokenization is when rights to an asset are converted into digital formats. Gabriel Silva added:
“We’re seeing the emergence of many different types of crypto assets like works of art […] that’s why we didn’t want to limit ourselves only to cryptocurrencies.”
Defining how citizens can interact with digital assets
Panama is on the European Union’s list of tax havens. The new law permits Panamanians to use cryptocurrencies as payment for any civil or commercial operation not prohibited by law in the country. Romain Dromard, chief executive officer at financial investment advisory firm K&B Family Office, said the crypto bill would not help it appear more transparent.
The news came only a day after reports that the Central African Republic (CAR) had become the second country to make Bitcoin legal tender. According to the country’s Finance Minister, Herve Ndoba, CAR has been working to create a legal framework around cryptocurrencies that will focus on defining how citizens can interact with digital assets. Ndoba said the Central African Republic was not trying to mimic El Salvador, the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in September 2021.
Tom is a freelance writer with over 10-years’ experience in content creation, blog writing, and SEO specializing in the blockchain and cryptocurrency niche. As a philosophical figurehead, he believes that to make our world a better place, we must invest in incorruptible products and procedures, of which Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are leading examples.
