Paraguay has moved a step closer towards regulating the local cryptocurrency mining and trading industries. The Senate in the South American country has passed a bill introduced six months ago that recognizes the crypto mining industry and establishes oversight over it. The bill seeks to foster the development of mining activities to leverage the surplus electricity produced. South America has been quick to adopt cryptocurrencies, but the approaches differed significantly among the countries.
(1/3) Today, after an intense debate, the Senate @SenadoresPy approved todaya New Law Project which regulates the industry and commercialization of #Crypto assets #Bitcoin #Paraguay after …(open threat)
— FernandoSilvaFacetti (@FSilvaFacetti) December 17, 2021
Paraguay seeks to recognize the cryptocurrency industry.
Paraguay is seeking to use regulations to foster the growth of the budding industry. Senator Fernando Silva Facetti revealed that lawmakers in the country had passed the bill, which will now be discussed in the Chamber of Deputies in 2022. Facetti is one of the authors of the bill and is a crypto supporter. The crypto mining bill places the Industry and Commerce Secretariat as the overseeing body. Others like the National Securities Commission and the National Electricity Administration will also have a role to play, and so too will the Anti-Money Laundering Office.
Close to 100% of the electricity the country produces is from hydroelectric sources.
The crypto mining bill notes that Paraguay only consumes about a third of all the electricity it generates. This leaves a lot of energy that miners could channel to their operations, earning the state a sizable amount of revenue. Additionally, close to 100% of the electricity the country produces is from hydroelectric sources, further making it ideal for the miners. Crypto miners across the world faced heat from regulators and people on social media for their massive energy use. Earlier this year, China had declared a crackdown on the crypto mining industry.
