Paraguayan Congressman Carlos Rejala has introduced a bill to regulate mining and cryptocurrencies in the country. However, the document was criticized by participants in the cryptocurrency industry.
After the legalization of bitcoin in El Salvador, Rehala said that he was inspired by the idea, so he too began work on a bill aimed at promoting innovation. To do this, Rehal brought in Senator Fernando Silva Facetti. According to a document that appeared on the Internet, the bill aims to regulate bitcoin mining and cryptocurrency trading. It also highlights the taxation of cryptocurrencies and the creation of a reserve fund. In addition, cryptocurrency firms will be required to register with the relevant authorities.
However, the published bill did not impress cryptocurrency supporters and sparked heated discussions. Paraguayan architect and technology enthusiast Juan Pessolani found that 90% of the text in the document was copied from two previous bills that were rejected by the Congresses of Argentina and Colombia several years ago. Colombian Congressman Mauro Toro commented that he has long been working on a new bill, collaborating on this issue with public and private organizations.
In addition, the Paraguayan bill contains excerpts from a Venezuelan blog and several anti-virus software sites. According to Pessolani, these should be the last places where it is worth taking information to work out such an important topic. Open source software developer and cryptocurrency enthusiast Juan Benitez called the bill “one of the most unfortunate documents he has seen in a decade.” However, despite many shortcomings, Benitez considers the goals of the bill worthy.
In his opinion, Paraguayan cryptocurrency firms may face serious problems with banks. Better regulation can solve these problems. Therefore, Benitez expressed a desire to participate in the development of a bill that really corresponds to the Paraguayan realities. Benitez said that Rehala had previously asked him to analyze the legal text of the document. It turned out to be the same text that Pessolani was talking about, after which Rehala agreed to work on creating a new and more comprehensive initiative.
Senator Facetti also worked separately on the creation of a bill that pursued the same goals as the Rehala document: creating a legal framework for regulating mining and cryptocurrency transactions, as well as developing taxation for digital assets. Given that Facetti is the leader of the Authentic Radical Liberal Party of Paraguay, one of the country’s main opposition parties, Rehala and Facetti have joined forces to increase the chances of the bill being passed.
“The updated bill is broader than Rehala’s original draft and creates a more complex bureaucracy. But there were no key stakeholders involved in the process of its creation. This cryptocurrency bill does not encourage innovation and does not create conditions for the economic development of Paraguay. Quite the opposite – it only creates obstacles and inconveniences for some, and benefits others, ”Pessolani said.
Congressman Rehala said he did not intend to stop and was ready to study this issue more thoroughly. Note that Paraguay plans to legalize cryptocurrencies and mining from the end of 2019.

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