
Costa Rica Congressman Johanna Ovando has proposed a bill titled The Crypto Asset Market Act (MECA) to regulate and allow cryptocurrencies in the Central American country.
The bill, proposed with Congressmen Luis Diego Vargas and Jorge Dengo, states that the government should not tax cryptocurrency profits derived from mining, but should tax profits from cryptocurrency trading. said.
Obando it took Twitter explained that the bill aims to give legal certainty to fintech companies and promote the growth of the digital economy and the adoption of crypto assets. and open to fintech companies and to create employment opportunities for Costa Ricans.
Additionally, the bill aims to keep individual virtual assets, crypto assets self-managed and decentralized without interference from the Costa Rican government or banks.
Obando said he would like to welcome crypto investors to Costa Rica. She added that the motivation behind the proposed bill is to create a legal security framework for the industry to keep pace with crypto adoption already underway in parts of the country. .
Crypto Regulation in Latin America
MECA, unlike El Salvador, has introduced cryptocurrency as a private virtual currency that can be used and circulated freely and does not require businesses to accept cryptocurrency as a means of payment. Since Bitcoin is the legal tender of El Salvador, businesses are legally required to accept Bitcoin as payment. Obando criticized the feasibility of slow internet connections.
Costa Rica’s Latin American neighbor, Paraguay, is also working towards developing regulations to increase government oversight of the bitcoin mining industry. In other words, it not only enables the supply of mining energy, but also oversees investments in mining by crypto companies and how mining companies manage the digital assets generated from their mining activities.