Panama Up Next In Making Bitcoin A Part Of Its Economy

The country of Panama may soon allow citizens to purchase goods with Bitcoin, due to the government approving a bill regulating the use of cryptocurrency.

The “Crypto Law” only needs to be signed by the president before being fully accepted. The bill states that it “regulates the trading and use of crypto-assets, the issuance of digital value, tokenization of precious metals and other assets, payment systems and other provisions.”

Congressman Gabriel Silva hopes this will help the Central American country to “become a hub of innovation and technology in Latin America.”

The goal according to Silva and the bill, is to allow Panamanians to be able to purchase just about anything using cryptocurrency if they prefer.

“Today I can go and pay for something to a merchant, and if the merchant wants to accept crypto, it's allowed, it's legal. Until today, that didn't exist in Panama, we are making it happen,” said Silva in an interview with local media. He also touted the Crypto Law's ability to help unbanked Panamanians, which is over 50% of its population.

The law states that cryptocurrencies will become a valid form of payment "for any legal civil or commercial operation," most importantly to pay taxes and fees owed to the government. While no official list of accepted cryptos has been named, Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, Litecoin, and Stellar were highlighted in the bill.

This law will differ from the first Bitcoin adopting country El Salvador, which made Bitcoin legal tender last year, a business must accept Bitcoin if they have the technology to do so, the law states. In Panama, it is much leaner, only making a business accept it if they want to.

This comes just a day after the Central African Republic adopted Bitcoin as a legal tender, but that announcement was sparse in details, compared to this Bitcoin Law.

With three countries, and considerably more interested in making Bitcoin a part of their economy, this is easily a sign of cryptocurrency becoming more of a force on a national scale, something many have been waiting for since its inception.