Bitcoin adoption boost: Mexico to vote on cryptocurrency

The government of Mexico is becoming bullish on Bitcoin (BTC).

Mexican Senator Indira Kempis said Thursday at the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami that the government will propose legislation to make Bitcoin legal tender. If passed, the law would be the first of its kind in North America and would make Mexico the largest country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.

Such legislation could lead to broader use and investment in Bitcoin in Mexico. Several major cryptocurrency exchanges, which allow investors to buy, sell and store crypto assets, already operate in the country.

Some Bitcoin miners already operate in Mexico and others, among them Chia Networkthe company behind the XCH coin, they are in the process of establishing cryptocurrency mining operations there.

“The Mexican people can have a better quality of life and we can reduce social inequality throughout the country,” said Kempis. "For this reason, we have already been presenting bills (bills) to guarantee financial inclusion as a constitutional right of our population, part of freedom."

bitcoin / Mexican peso (MXN/BTC) price table

Bill in two months

"Additionally, in two months, we will propose legislation to modify the regulations in (financial technology) and in the monetary law."

Kempis is typical drafted a draft decree that would amend Mexican monetary law to cover a central bank digital currency. Its website indicates that the draft of the document, published in the Diario Senate Gazette on Wednesday, it would be studied by the country's Treasury and Public Credit commissions, among other legislative groups.

Kempis has previously stated that the government would introduce legislation to make Bitcoin legal tender, but this week's moves appear to mark more direct action.

According to Kempis, 67 million people, or 56% of Mexico's population, do not have bank accounts. He appeared at the conference with Samsom Mow, former chief strategy officer at Bitcoin infrastructure firm Blockstream, who advised El Salvador on adopting Bitcoin as legal tender.

Kempis read a message from Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador to Mow, inviting him to sit down and have a cup of coffee to talk about the plan.

"Bitcoin as legal tender now!" Kempis said.

"I accept the invitation for a cup of coffee," said Mow.

But Marc Falzon, an economic documentarian who focuses on cryptocurrencies, is taking a wait-and-see approach to Mexico's Bitcoin law. Falzon told Capital.com recently that he was aware of some senators who had promised to introduce bills.

"Until it happens, I'm skeptical," Falzon said.

Early adopters from Latin America

Gene Hoffman, president of Chia, hopes that Mexico will be among the Latin American countries to adopt blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies before other nations.

“We think that especially Latin America, places like Mexico, Chile, Brazil and others are going to be early adopters of blockchain technology,” Hoffman told Capital.com in March.

Chia anticipates that the federal governments of Mexico and other Latin American countries will use blockchain technology at the government enterprise level as they look for ways to apply blockchain where markets are high in fraud or lack transparency.

“And, also, we believe that (they will use it for) individual citizens, who are already using it for remittances and, in some cases, to hedge uncertainty around their banks and currencies.”

Prospera and Madeira adopt Bitcoin

During the same session that Kempis spoke in Miami on Thursday, the presidents of Prospera, a jurisdiction on the Caribbean island of Roatán in Honduras, and Madeira, an autonomous region of Portugal, revealed that their governments had adopted Bitcoin as legal tender.

“You can freely transact using Bitcoin and you can pay taxes and fees to the jurisdiction in Bitcoin,” Prospera President Joel Bomgar said to loud applause. “You can also start a Bitcoin business in the jurisdiction using the regulatory framework of your choice and all done in a (anti-money laundering) and (know your customer) compliant manner.”

Bomgar also announced that Bitcoin bonds, created by Mow, are now being sold on Prospera to corporations or political subdivisions outside the US. Investors who wish to invest in the Prospera corporation can also invest in a convertible note offering on security token.

Miguel Albuquerque, President of the Regional Government of Madeira, said that individual Bitcoin investors will not have to pay personal income taxes.

“I believe in the future and I believe in Bitcoin,” he told the crowd.

Mow launches a new company

Meanwhile, Mow revealed that he launched a new Bitcoin tech company on January 3. The company derives its name from the 2009 date when Bitcoin founder Satoshi Nakamoto formed the Genesis block that serves as the foundation for the world's largest cryptocurrency.

Mow also plans to increase the adoption of Bitcoin by nation states. He said his departure from Blockstream came after he met a former Scottish military man in El Salvador, who told him that the Central American country had gained a small foothold in adopting a nation state that had to be defended. and enlarged.

In terms of Bitcoin adoption, this is a pivotal moment in history.

“And we have to make things move faster,” he said.

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