Paraguay’s Passes Bill To Regulate Crypto, Targets Mining Companies

The Senate of Paraguay has passed a bill on Thursday that aims to regulate cryptocurrency mining and trading in the country.

On Thursday, the Senate of Paraguay enacted a law aimed at regulating Bitcoin and cryptocurrency trading and mining in the country. Senator Fernando Silva Facetti, the bill co-author, said on Twitter that the bill will now be debated in Paraguay’s Chamber of Deputies in 2022.

In Paraguay, the bill does not make bitcoin legal tender. During a conversation with Paraguayan Congressman Carlitos Rejala in July, an exclusive peek at the draft bill was released. The bill hinted at stronger regulatory oversights from the country’s regulators when it came to bitcoin mining, as well as an overarching purpose of providing investor safeguards from enterprises that offer bitcoin services.

Rejala said at the time,

“With this we want to welcome the innovation of cryptocurrencies in Paraguay to the world. This is the result of a very strong and arduous teamwork of many experts in the field, both local and foreign.”

According to the bill, the Industry and Commerce Secretariat will be in charge of overseeing crypto mining in the country, with the support of the Anti-Money Laundering Office and the National Securities Commission. Meanwhile, the National Electricity Administration will be involved in the activity’s regulation.

Meanwhile, despite not explicitly stating the concept of an exchange, the bill plainly suggests some form of record-keeping for any individual or established business entity interested in providing crypto trading or custody services to others.

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The bill recognized that Paraguay consumes barely one-third of the energy it produces is also included in the bill. Crypto mining activities, if controlled, would almost certainly compensate for the thousands of megawatts of electricity that Paraguay currently does not utilize.

In summary, the law aims to take advantage of the Latin American country’s surplus energy, and it will be debated by the Chamber of Deputies in 2022, as previously stated.

Bitcoin miners might benefit from “thousands of megawatts that Paraguay currently has as surplus,” according to the bill, assuming it falls under the country’s restrictions. The industry would be controlled jointly by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, the National Securities Commission, the Anti-Money Laundering Office, and the National Electricity Administration in Paraguay, according to the legislation.

The cost of electricity in Paraguay, which is the lowest in the region at roughly $0.05 per kilowatt-hour, is one of the key attractions for mining companies, according to congressman Rejala, who added that nearly 100 percent of energy output originates from hydroelectric sources.

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