Bitcoin and Ethereum May Be Accepted in Panama City as Payment for Public Services

The move signals that lawmakers in Panama City and other parts of the country are adopting more crypto-friendly views as pay for public service. &nbsp,

Mayer Mizrachi, mayor of Panama City, stated in an X-post on Wednesday that the city’s council approved a proposal this week that would allow its regional offices to take crypto payments. Locals will be able to pay for taxes, tickets, permits, and fees with a range of digital assets, starting with Bitcoin, Ethereum, and the stablecoins USDC and Tether ( USDT ) in accordance with the new law. &nbsp,

In exchange for common providers, Panama City is unsure if and when it will take other types of digital assets.

Decrypt requested a comment on the situation, but a Panama City agent did not respond right away. &nbsp,

Earlier administrations tried to pass a bill in the senate to make this happen, but we discovered a straightforward way to accept bitcoin payments without fresh legislation, Mizrachi wrote in the post. &nbsp,

Panama City will work with lenders that are able to receive digital assets and turn them to stablecoins, according to Mizrachi, in order to help bitcoin obligations to its local state offices. &nbsp,

Panama City’s pro-crypto movement comes as online resources are increasingly being used as trade channels all over the world. &nbsp,

El Salvador became the first nation to grant legal sweet to Bitcoin in the world in 2021, with the Central African Republic a year later. Fiji and Tonga have also looked into making the sign an official coin. &nbsp,

Authorities in a few of the country’s regions have also approved Bitcoin payment for some of the country’s public services.

Filipino lawmakers haven’t usually embraced bitcoin, despite the fact that the country’s funds has signaled it is warming up to digital assets. &nbsp,

A bill that may regulate Bitcoin and decriminalize decentralized automatic organizations was half blocked by Nicaraguan President Laurentino Cortizo in 2022, sending the draft bill up to the nation’s National Assembly for discussion. &nbsp,

According to local media outlet La Prensa, he argued that the bill “required ] adaptation to the norms that regulate our financial system.”

edited by James Rubin