Andorra, or ‘the Principality of Andorra’, a landlocked microstate between France and Spain, is remarkably contemplating regulations of digital assets and other blockchain technologies.
The General Council of Andorra recently approved the regulatory framework of Bitcoin (BTC) and other virtual assets. The framework was dubbed the Digital Assets Act.
The Digital Assets Act is a “draft law on the digital representation of assets through the use of cryptography and distributed ledger and blockchain technology.” Back in late January 2021, the drafted law was submitted to Parliament. The law has since been under scrutiny and adjustments.
A total of 38 amendments were issued to the draft in the space of 17 months. When the Act finally gets signed into law, it is slated to cover several crypto debates, including new forms of decentralized finance (DeFi). Also, the legal regimes of digital assets which involve their issuance and whether private or public concerns will be addressed.
The law will communicate the regulation of crypto firms to ensure that they are in line with the stated ordinances and have received appropriate authorization. Anti-money laundering schemes and licensing are core topics of the Digital Assets Act.
Phases of the Digital Assets Act
The regulation of the Act in the Parliament of Andorra will be accomplished in two phases. Firstly, the tokenization of the digital assets in a secure ecosystem. It would encompass the creation of digital money and Andorra’s sovereign token.
Next is the extensive use of digital assets as a financial instrument and their monitored use in a regulated environment. Once the Act goes live, the administration of Andorra will be obliged to come up with this law within 12 months based on the fourth Transitional Provision of the Digital Assets Act.
All of these do not mean to say BTC or any other digital assets are likely to become legal tender in Andorra. Andorra has no such proposal at the time of this writing. The microstate has only begun its journey towards economic and financial diversification.
Besides Andorra, countries like El Salvador, the Central African Republic (CAR) and Ukraine have all passed comprehensive crypto laws within their shores.
The booming of the crypto coins like Bitcoin in different regions and nations is unstoppable. This has recently been observed in the case of the Central African Republic (CAR). Of course, one of the major questions that have remained unanswered is whether Bitcoin adoption can work in such a developing country.
CAR betting on Bitcoin
The CAR overtook regional cryptocurrency front-runners like Nigeria and Kenya to become the continent’s first country to officially adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.
The Central African Republic has become the second nation in the world to adopt Bitcoin as its official currency after El Salvador took the same approach last year.
Late last month, lawmakers in the CAR’s parliament voted unanimously and passed a bill legalizing Bitcoin and other crypto assets, according to a statement from the presidency.
As a result, Bitcoin will be considered legal tender alongside the regional Central Africa’s fiat currency, CFA franc.
Blockchain.News invites Marie Tatibouet, the Chief Marketing Officer, at Gate.io cryptocurrency exchange, to help us explore whether Bitcoin can work in the Central African Republic as a legal tender and to propose a way how the cryptocurrency can be adopted in the region.
Tatibouet has lived and worked in the Americas, Europe and Asia. Before joining Gate.io, she was the CEO of a Digital Marketing Agency in Hong Kong, working with clients in the blockchain technology sector. That puts her at the forefront of the industry, which poses a challenge to traditional currency.
Tatibouet acknowledged that the decision by the CAR parliament to unanimously pass a law in favour of the adoption of Bitcoin was driven by the need to solve currency and exchange rate challenges.
The executive told Blockchain.News:
“The main thing that CAR wants to solve by legalizing Bitcoin is attracting foreign capital. However, CAR has rich natural resources and ranks low in human prosperity. Therefore, attracting foreign capital could enable exponential infrastructure growth.”
CAR’s adoption of the most popular crypto was likely a result of wanting to try something different to try and address long-standing fiscal challenges.
The government suggested that adopting Bitcoin as a legal tender would spur CAR’s economic recovery and growth, while also helping stabilize the nation, which has been wracked by a decade-long civil war. The country, which is landlocked in the heart of Africa, has been gripped by violence and political instability for years.
Challenges facing the crypto program
Although the move to consider Bitcoin legal tender has been praised by the crypto community and was welcomed as another step toward mainstream adoption of cryptos. Tatibouet was worried about Bitcoin’s adoption in the CAR, disclosing that the decision by CAR to adopt Bitcoin has been viewed as controversial, which will make implementation quite difficult.
The decision made by the administration has also drawn criticisms from opposition parties. The regional central bank, which manages a common currency used by six countries, including the Central African Republic, also said that decision was made without consulting the financial regulator.
CAR is among about six central African nations—Cameroon, Chad, Republic of Congo, Gabon, and Equatorial Guinea—that use the Central African CFA franc unit of exchange, “a regional currency backed by France,”
While the CAR government regards Bitcoin adoption as a way to bootstrap payments in the country, it is not clear how. Tatibouet explained:
“At this point, it isn’t easy to understand how Bitcoin and crypto will affect the common people in the short term. You need the internet to interact with crypto, yet just 4% of the population has access to the web. It is difficult to understand how BTC could gain widespread public usage without deeper internet penetration.”
Internet coverage in the CAR is merely 11%. The country has a low life expectancy and extreme poverty, with just 557,000 of its 4.8 million people having access to the Internet.
The way forward
So far, the Central African Republic has provided few details on how it plans to address these challenges. While the government said that the move made CAR one of the world’s “most visionary countries”, residents in the capital Bangui, where most are familiar with mobile money to buy goods and pay bills, were baffled with the idea of adopting Bitcoin as legal tender, making the cryptocurrency an accepted means of exchange for goods and services.
“The issue here is to understand the main purpose behind CAR making BTC legal tender. At no point did they say words like ‘banking their unbanked masses’ or anything like that. Instead, their main purpose is to achieve global economic inclusion. So, what that tells me is that general public usage may not be their immediate goal,” Tatibouet explained.
The government approved the decision without proper consultation with major stakeholders. This not only implies the breakdown of the rule of law, but also will eventually provoke that the social, economic, and environmental costs and potential unrest that must be assumed by the entire society as a whole.
Tatibouet further stated that “now it remains to be seen whether CAR will be able to attract crypto entrepreneurs or not.”
Since the country has already witnessed some of its mistakes as well as challenges it faces, it may be willing to learn and take appropriate measures.
Tatibouet believes that if CAR can implement its Bitcoin program well, then it will attract some of its neighbours (Countries like Cameroon, Chad, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, and the Republic of Congo, which all face the same financial situation) in the long term to see the cryptocurrency as the future of finance and a provider of great freedom.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned nations to desist from adopting Bitcoin as their legal tender against central bank-issued money.
While speaking at IMF Spring Meetings on Friday, Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF Managing Director, said that it is not advisable for countries to embrace cryptocurrency as money in the economy.
Georgieva’s statement comes from a number of emerging markets including the Central Africa Republic and El Salvador both of whom have officially declared Bitcoin as a legal tender alongside their country’s fiat.
Both Central Africa Republic and El Salvador adopted the cryptocurrency to support their domestic currency and sustain their economy by attracting Bitcoin users to their countries for business transactions and tourism.
IMF stated that crypto assets are an anti-establishment movement that threatens the power of central banks and their monopoly control of the money supply. The global financial body warned of large risks associated with Bitcoin use on consumer protection, financial stability, and financial integrity.
However, Georgieva identified the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) as the best innovation for a country’s financial system. “The future of money is a central topic at the IMF’s Spring Meetings,” the executive stated as she warned that the use of volatile crypto coins as money is not advisable.
Late last month, The Central African Republic (CAR) adopted Bitcoin as a legal tender, becoming the second nation in the world to do so after El Salvador. CAR lawmakers unanimously adopted a bill that made Bitcoin a legal tender alongside the official fiat currency – the CFA franc – and legalized the use of cryptocurrencies.
In September last year, El Salvador became the world’s first adopter of the pioneering digital currency. Under it, citizens of the Central American country were allowed to use the virtual currency – along with the US dollar which has been the official currency for more than twenty years – to pay for any goods and services, using a cyber-wallet app called Chivo.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has warned nations to desist from adopting Bitcoin as their legal tender against central bank-issued money.
While speaking at IMF Spring Meetings on Friday, Kristalina Georgieva, the IMF Managing Director, said that it is not advisable for countries to embrace cryptocurrency as money in the economy.
Georgieva’s statement comes from a number of emerging markets including the Central Africa Republic and El Salvador both of whom have officially declared Bitcoin as a legal tender alongside their country’s fiat.
Both Central Africa Republic and El Salvador adopted the cryptocurrency to support their domestic currency and sustain their economy by attracting Bitcoin users to their countries for business transactions and tourism.
IMF stated that crypto assets are an anti-establishment movement that threatens the power of central banks and their monopoly control of the money supply. The global financial body warned of large risks associated with Bitcoin use on consumer protection, financial stability, and financial integrity.
However, Georgieva identified the Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) as the best innovation for a country’s financial system. “The future of money is a central topic at the IMF’s Spring Meetings,” the executive stated as she warned that the use of volatile crypto coins as money is not advisable.
Late last month, The Central African Republic (CAR) adopted Bitcoin as a legal tender, becoming the second nation in the world to do so after El Salvador. CAR lawmakers unanimously adopted a bill that made Bitcoin a legal tender alongside the official fiat currency – the CFA franc – and legalized the use of cryptocurrencies.
In September last year, El Salvador became the world’s first adopter of the pioneering digital currency. Under it, citizens of the Central American country were allowed to use the virtual currency – along with the US dollar which has been the official currency for more than twenty years – to pay for any goods and services, using a cyber-wallet app called Chivo.
El Salvador is leaping the dividends of making Bitcoin (BTC) legal tender, given that the nation’s tourism industry has recorded a 30% surge since this milestone was attained in September 2021.
Morena Valdez, the Minister of Tourism, stipulated the sector was experiencing exponential growth because expectations had been exceeded, according to the local media outlet El Salvador in English.
Valdez added:
“We did a poll to check the activity according to the before and after of Bitcoin. The tourism sector increased in November and December. This increased by more than 30%.”
With the United States contributing the lion’s share of tourists at 60%, the minister acknowledged that the target of 1.1 million visitors had been surpassed by 300,000.
President Nayib Bukele said the tourism industry, the second-largest sector in the country, boosted the economy in 2021 as income from this sector continues to soar.
Valdez pointed out:
“We had projected $800,000 in foreign exchange; but we obtained more than $1.4 million of income in foreign currency.”
This notable growth is linked to the adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender on El Salvador soil because it officially became a medium of payment alongside the U.S. dollar.
Since then, the Central American nation has made significant strides in the BTC space. For instance, earlier this year, it looked at the issuance of Bitcoin bonds through a raft of legislation.
As Bitcoiners continue eyeing to relocate to El Salvador, President Bukele is pushing various policy reforms to grant Citizenship by Investment to foreign investors.
The President revealed that he would be sending nearly 52 reforms to the country’s Congress to remove the red tape, reduce bureaucracy, create tax incentives, and aid citizenship in exchange for investments, new securities laws, stability contracts.
T.V. Somanathan, Finance Secretary of India, has said that crypto assets like BTC, ETH, and NFTs will never become legal tender.
He also said that the Reserve Bank of India would never default and that the coming digital rupee would have its backing.
India’s Parliament has grappled with whether to ban cryptocurrencies in the past.
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India’s Finance Secretary, T.V. Somanathan, has said that cryptocurrencies will never become legal tender in India. Among other things, he emphasized that crypto assets do not have the government’s backing.
India’s Finance Secretary Speaks Frankly
India’s Finance Secretary has thrown cold water on any hopes that India might soon follow in El Salvador’s footsteps in adopting Bitcoin as legal currency.
According to Asian News International, T.V. Somanathan, India’s Finance Secretary,has saidthat cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin and Ethereum, as well as crypto assets like NFTS, “will never become legal tender.” On India’s recently announced plans to bring a central bank digital currency, Somanathan emphasized the robust nature of the Reserve Bank of India, which will back and issue the digital rupee,sayingit would “never” default.
Hestatedhis view that crypto assets’ value would be “determined between two people,” and also that, like crypto assets, neither diamonds nor gold would “have the value authorization” of the government.
The Finance Secretary of the nation of over 1.3 billion people issued awarning:
“People investing in private crypto should understand that it does not have the authorization of government. There is no guarantee whether your investment will be successful or not, one may suffer losses and government is not responsible for this.”
Talks of whether or not to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender have already occurred in India. Last November, the nation’s Finance Minister, Nirmala Sitharaman,saidthat the Indian government had no plans to grant Bitcoin status as a legal currency while in a Parliamentary session.
Regulators in India have grappled with the possible banning of cryptocurrencies for years. In 2019, adraft billwas put forward seeking to ban cryptocurrency usage, making it punishable by up to a decade in prison. In Jan. 2021, asimilar billwas put forward for deliberation in Parliament—so toolast November.
No such ban has been instituted, though regulation has been proposed. Justyesterday, a 30% tax on crypto assets was proposed, and plans were detailed for the issuance of a central bank digital currency.
Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned BTC, ETH, and several other cryptocurrencies.
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An Arizona state senator has proposed two more pro-crypto bills.
The first bill aims to allow state agencies to accept cryptocurrencies as payment for various financial obligations.
The second bill seeks to exclude all virtual currencies from tax obligations in Arizona.
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Arizona state senator Wendy Rogers has proposed two more crypto-focused bills. The proposals argue for tax exemption for virtual currencies and the ability to pay state agencies in cryptocurrency.
Rogers Submits More Crypto Bills
A state senator wants to make Arizona the most crypto-friendly state.
Wendy Rogers, a Republican member of the Arizona Senate, has proposed two more pro-crypto bills.
The first bill, SB 1127, proposes that state agencies provide methods to accept cryptocurrencies to pay fines, civil penalties, rent, rates, taxes, fees, or other financial obligations due to the state. If passed in the Arizona Senate, the bill would become effective after Dec. 31, 2022.
The new filing builds on a previous bill passed in 2018, allowing Arizona residents to pay income taxes using Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies recognized by the state’s revenue authorities.
The second bill, numbered SB 1128, seeks to amend the legislature of Arizona by adding a tax exemption for all virtual currencies. The filing defines virtual currency as “a means of digital representation of value, other than a representation of the United States dollar or a foreign currency, that functions as a unit of account, a store of value or medium of exchange.”
Section two of the bill covers the conditional enactment of the proposal. It states that the bill will go to a vote at the next general election, meaning that Arizona residents will likely have the chance to vote on tax exemption for cryptocurrencies in 2024.
These two bills are not the first crypto-friendly proposals submitted to the Arizona Senate this week. On Friday, Rogers also submitted a bill aiming to make Bitcoin legal tender in Arizona. However, many have pointed out that such a bill is unlikely to succeed, as the U.S. Constitution explicitly prohibits states from declaring assets legal tender except gold or silver coins.
Rogers appears to be a long-standing supporter of cryptocurrencies. In April 2021, she voted in favor of a bill to establish a Cryptocurrency study committee, and has declared she wants Arizona to be the most crypto-friendly state in the nation.
Disclosure: At the time of writing this feature, the author owned ETH and several other cryptocurrencies.
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The information on or accessed through this website is obtained from independent sources we believe to be accurate and reliable, but Decentral Media, Inc. makes no representation or warranty as to the timeliness, completeness, or accuracy of any information on or accessed through this website. Decentral Media, Inc. is not an investment advisor. We do not give personalized investment advice or other financial advice. The information on this website is subject to change without notice. Some or all of the information on this website may become outdated, or it may be or become incomplete or inaccurate. We may, but are not obligated to, update any outdated, incomplete, or inaccurate information.
You should never make an investment decision on an ICO, IEO, or other investment based on the information on this website, and you should never interpret or otherwise rely on any of the information on this website as investment advice. We strongly recommend that you consult a licensed investment advisor or other qualified financial professional if you are seeking investment advice on an ICO, IEO, or other investment. We do not accept compensation in any form for analyzing or reporting on any ICO, IEO, cryptocurrency, currency, tokenized sales, securities, or commodities.
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A Republican state senator wants to make Bitcoin (BTC) legal tender in Arizona.
Arizona Sixth Legislative District Representative Wendy Rogers has introduced a flurry of crypto-related bills in the past few weeks, including one that would add BTC to the state’s list of things defined as legal tender.
Rogers also introduced a bill that would allow the state government, as well as the governments of any county, city, town and school district in Arizona, to pay employees in virtual currency if they request it.
A third Rogers bill would ban any governmental body in the state from prohibiting people from using mutually agreed on mediums of exchange, including digital currencies. A fourth would ban cities and towns from imposing taxes or fees on “the use of blockchain technology by any person or entity.” A fifth would exempt virtual currency from property taxes.
Rogers’ district encompasses parts of Coconino, Yavapai, Navajo and Gila counties in central and Northern Arizona.
In September of last year, El Salvador became the world’s first nation to recognize Bitcoin as an official currency.
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A bill recently put forward in Arizona aims to turn Bitcoin into a form of legal tender within the state.
The bill is unlikely to succeed, as the U.S. constitution seemingly prevents states from declaring assets legal tender.
The bill was put forward by Senator Wendy Rogers, a politician recently placed at the top of an extremist rhetoric list.
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An Arizona senator has put forward a bill that aims to turn Bitcoin into legal tender in the state.
Bill Intends to Amend Arizona Statues
The one-page filing, numbered SB1341, would amend Arizona Revised Statutes to include Bitcoin as a form of legal tender.
The filing mentions Bitcoin specifically without referring to other cryptocurrencies, calling it the “decentralized peer-to-peer digital currency…maintained on the Bitcoin blockchain.”
It also draws attention to Bitcoin mining, noting that “new units … are generated by the computational solution of mathematical problems” and notes that Bitcoin works apart from central banks.
In the section of the amendment listing types of legal tender, Bitcoin is listed fourth. Existing types of legal tender include any medium of exchange authorized for debt payments, coins issued by the government, and other types of coins with precious metal content.
Bill Unlikely to Succeed
Some have suggested that the bill is unlikely to succeed for legal reasons. Article I, Section 10, Clause 1 of the U.S. Constitution explicitly prohibits states from declaring assets legal tender except gold or silver coin: “No State shall…make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts,” the document reads.
In addition to possible legal issues, the reputation of the senator behind the bill could trouble its passage. The bill was put forward by Senator Wendy Rogers, a far-right politician recently placed at the top of an extremist rhetoric list. As such, the bill may not gain large support given her other fringe views.
More broadly, the United States does not consider Bitcoin legal tender. The IRS considers Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies a “medium of exchange, a unit of account, and/or a store of value…[that] does not have legal tender status in any jurisdiction.”
Outside of the United States, El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in September 2021. It is unclear if Rogers’ proposal was motivated by this decision.
Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned BTC, ETH, and other cryptocurrencies.
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The information on or accessed through this website is obtained from independent sources we believe to be accurate and reliable, but Decentral Media, Inc. makes no representation or warranty as to the timeliness, completeness, or accuracy of any information on or accessed through this website. Decentral Media, Inc. is not an investment advisor. We do not give personalized investment advice or other financial advice. The information on this website is subject to change without notice. Some or all of the information on this website may become outdated, or it may be or become incomplete or inaccurate. We may, but are not obligated to, update any outdated, incomplete, or inaccurate information.
You should never make an investment decision on an ICO, IEO, or other investment based on the information on this website, and you should never interpret or otherwise rely on any of the information on this website as investment advice. We strongly recommend that you consult a licensed investment advisor or other qualified financial professional if you are seeking investment advice on an ICO, IEO, or other investment. We do not accept compensation in any form for analyzing or reporting on any ICO, IEO, cryptocurrency, currency, tokenized sales, securities, or commodities.
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