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The El Salvador Effect! Panamanian lawmakers propose Bitcoin legal tender bill, challenging the US dollar's "official" status

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The El Salvador Effect! Panamanian lawmakers propose Bitcoin legal tender bill, challenging the US dollar

Following El Salvador's decision to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender and Paraguay's congress members proposing similar initiatives, opposition lawmaker Gabriel Silva of Panama is also actively working on introducing a bill to make cryptocurrencies legal tender. The proposal includes offering favorable tax incentives to attract crypto businesses for investment.

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Following El Salvador's move to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender and Paraguay's congressmen proposing similar initiatives, Gabriel Silva, an opposition member of the Panamanian National Assembly, is actively planning to submit a bill to promote cryptocurrencies as legal tender. The bill aims to attract crypto-related businesses to invest by offering preferential tax rates.

In a tweet, Gabriel Silva wrote, "This is important. Panama cannot be left behind. If we want to become a true tech and entrepreneurial center, we must support cryptocurrencies. We will prepare a proposal to deliver to the National Assembly. If you are interested in investing, you can contact me."

Gabriel Silva said, "I found El Salvador's project proactive, ambitious, interesting, and widely accepted." He is attempting to push for Panama to also adopt Bitcoin as legal tender and compete actively with El Salvador.

Gabriel Silva did not disclose the specific details of the bill, but he mentioned that Panama's constitution prohibits the government from mandating certain currencies as legal tender, which could facilitate the inclusion of Bitcoin as legal tender.

The situation in Panama is different from that of El Salvador. The ruling party in Panama's parliament holds a majority, with the ability to swiftly approve the Bitcoin law with a 62- vote advantage out of 84 votes. Gabriel Silva stated that he does not believe Panama can pass the bill in three days like El Salvador did, "but it can be achieved," as he believes that sitting down to discuss can garner strong citizen support.

According to Panama's legislative process, the Bitcoin law must receive support from 36 out of 71 votes in the House of Representatives to pass, as Panama does not have a Senate. Once approved by the parliament, the law can be either approved or vetoed by the President.

Panama does not have a central bank and officially adopted the US dollar as legal tender in 1904, which circulates alongside the local currency, the Balboa, at a fixed exchange rate of 1:1.

The country has long been a tax haven for multinational corporations. The European Union only recently released a tax haven "blacklist" in early June, which includes Guam, the US Virgin Islands, and the "grey-listed" Panama, Fiji, and Samoa.

This article is authorized to be reprinted from Horizon Next Sumari News, original article here.