Paraguayan Senate Passes Bill Regulating Crypto Mining and Trading

Paraguay's Senate approved a bill regulating crypto mining and trading on Thursday.

In December, the country’s Senate had already approved the bill, but in May the Chamber of Deputies passed it with modifications. Therefore, it returned to the upper chamber.

Now approved by both chambers, the law must be submitted to the executive branch, which has the power to approve or veto it.

The main modification proposed by the Chamber of Deputies and accepted by the Senate is that the primary law enforcement authority will be the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, which will penalize those individuals or legal entities carrying out mining or providing services with crypto without the corresponding authorization.

The National Electricity Administration will be in charge of enabling the energy supply, and the Secretariat for the Prevention of Money or Asset Laundering will supervise the whole investment process carried out by crypto companies. The National Securities Commission will be in charge of the commercialization of the obtained assets.

The law stipulates that individual and corporate miners have to request authorization for industrial electricity consumption and then apply for a license. It also creates a registry for any individual or legal entity aiming to provide crypto trading or custody services for third parties.

Congressman Carlos Rejala, one of the bill’s authors, told CoinDesk last year that the law looks to attract international miners using the low electricity rates of the country, which are around 5 cents per kilowatt-hour.

Canadian bitcoin miner Bitfarms (BITF) is one of the large mining players operating in Paraguay, with a 10 megawatt facility in the city of Villarica, located in the south central part of the South American country.

Read more: What Does a Crypto Mining Farm Look Like? Striking Photos From Siberia to Spain