The non-governmental organization Bitcoin Argentina presented a bill that proposes regulating the cryptocurrency market in a way that preserves decentralization and strengthens public trust.
The proposed legal framework was presented by Bitcoin Argentina president Ricardo Mihura at LABITCONF 2023 in Argentina's capital, Buenos Aires, on November 10. Bitcoin Argentina previously dismissed the idea that the industry needed to be regulated. However, Bitcoin advocates now argue that it is necessary to not only preserve the blockchain but also hold bad actors accountable to the full extent of the law.
โWe have always rejected attempts to regulate the crypto economy, but this time we set ourselves the goal of giving a positive response, with only two purposes: preserving decentralization and protecting savings and public trust.โ Mihura added:
"We cannot close our eyes to the number of dishonest actors and projects circulating under the blockchain brand."
The first article of the legal framework focuses on separating cryptocurrency platforms and service providers into three categories to determine property rights: decentralized, locally centralized or willing to dialogue with authorities, and global centralized.
Platforms that fall into one of the two centralized categories would be allowed to operate freely, but their customers would be granted โthe broadest possible judicial protection,โ guaranteeing the right to claim damages in the event of the company's bankruptcy.
It is understood that the Argentine judiciary will not intervene in the event of failures of decentralized platforms.
Courts will decide whether or not a cryptocurrency platform is sufficiently decentralized when resolving claims brought by allegedly harmed customers.
Related: Argentina's central bank removes cryptocurrencies from payment apps
Mihura emphasized that imposing an outright ban on cryptocurrencies (something some governments have attempted to do) simply would not work given the global nature of blockchain:
โNot even the United States can effectively prohibit the operation of the crypto economy without a license.โ [...] Argentina has no possibility of prohibiting its residents from operating in global environments [so] โWe believe there is no point in proposing a top-down ban and we choose to propose the best the law can offer its citizens.โ
"This includes those directly responsible and all those who profit in the marketing chain of a fraud, up to the final victim," Mihura added.
Blockchain Argentina bill arrives a week early The second presidential round of Argentina choice between Sergio Massa, the country's economy minister, and Javier Milei, an economist-turned-politician who wants to abolish Argentina's central bank and adopt the US dollar.
Argentina is currently fighting an inflationary crisis. In the last 12 months, the country has recorded the fourth highest annual inflation rate in the world with 121.7%.
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