Mexican Senator Kempis Faces Opposition Over Bitcoin Bill

Long-time tech and blockchain advocate Mexican Senator Indira Kempis said that her Bitcoin (BTC) bill is seeing more positive attention but is also facing increasing opposition.

Kempis proposed a central bank digital currency (CBDC) last year, which now also includes accepting bitcoin as legal tender.

Initially, there wasn’t much opposition to that bill, Kempis told Decrypt, “because nobody really understood Bitcoin.”

This is changing: it’s receiving both positive and negative attention now. That said, she argues that even the opponents’ rejection still means that “we are moving the system.”

Congress members and their teams started asking more questions on the topic after a Bitcoin ATM was installed inside the Mexican Senate.

Per Kempis, a heat map showing where the country’s legislators stand regarding the bill would be helpful as she’s “looking for clear positions.”

She said she wants to communicate to the public whether or not their representatives are interested in this novel industry.

Indira Kempis Martínez is a Mexican politician from the Citizens’ Movement and a Senator from the state of Nuevo León since September 2018.

She is well-known in the Cryptosphere due to her long-standing, vocal support for the crypto and blockchain industry and the opportunity Mexico could gain from its early adoption.

While initially not understanding Bitcoin, she said she learned of obstacles faced by entrepreneurs, deciding to look deeper into this type of innovation.

The senator became an advocate of “the road to creative alternatives,” starting the conversation in the legislative branch.

Then, last year, she introduced the above-mentioned bill. At the time, it focused on creating a CBDC and did not mention BTC. The bill was later modified to include the crypto.

This, she told Decrypt, “was a necessary step to open the discussion” – just a first step in a pragmatic approach that would eventually lead to establishing the legal framework for Mexico to adopt bitcoin as legal tender.

While the topic garners attention and the bill is being discussed, Kempis said there is still a long way to go.

The central Banco de México is an essential part of the legislative process. Yet, its former governor was a Bitcoin critic, while the current one stays silent on the topic.

The Mexican senate asked the bank to deliver a formal analysis and stance, but it hasn’t done so yet.

Kempis expects Mexico to see its digital peso in 2024.

Lastly, the senator argued that one of the roles of the legislative branch is to provide “a dose” of education, foster discussion, and establish comprehensive regulation, adding: “If El Salvador could do it, surely we can as well.”

In late August, Kempis announced that she intended to become the first female Presidential candidate in Mexico in 2024.

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