The cryptocurrency bill was introduced in September 2021 but a dispute between the government and Panama’s National Assembly has stalled it.
Back in 2021, Panama was leading the race to become the first country to introduce cryptocurrency regulation. However, the proposed crypto bill failed to meet the expectations of the government and was passed to the Supreme court for review.
Panamanian president Laurentino Cortizo did not approve the bill by calling it inadequate. According to the statement released by the President’s office, articles 34 and 36 of the bill are unenforceable because they violate the state’s separation of powers.
President Cortizo has further stated that the bill is missing the Anti Money Laundering (AML) rules and he wouldn’t sign it unless these rules are part of the bill.
The bill was introduced to make the country suitable for blockchain and crypto adoption. It allowed the citizens to use crypto assets including Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH) as an alternate mode of payment.
Moreover, the bill would regulate the tokenization of precious metals and promotes the use case of distributed ledger technology by the government’s innovation authority.
On Jan 26, the bill was sent to the apex court last year for review. It is now up to Supreme Court to decide the fate of the crypto bill. The decision may come out soon anytime this year.
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Paras is a blockchain writer & video creator at Katoch Tubes. In his free time, he loves watching space exploration documentaries & Hollywood movies.
