Panama passes a crypto-friendly regulation

After the Central African Republic’s President confirmed his country is indeed embracing Bitcoin as legal tender, another country across the globe made a move towards crypto.

The Central American nation of Panama has recently approved a bill regulating different aspects of cryptoassets, including trading, issuance and use as payment. The bill will certainly help the 50% of unbanked Panamanians get access to the world markets, but also “convert Panama into a technology innovation hub in Latin America”.

For an industry observer this wording already feels repetitive, as more and more jurisdictions start realizing the immense opportunity the crypto industry represents for their economies and societies.

In the Caribbean and LatAm region Panama will already be competing with El Salvador, of course, but also the Bahamas (HQ of FTX derivatives exchange), Honduran special zone of Prospera, Costa Rica’s Golden Triangle, the cities of Rio de Janeiro and Buenos Aires…

We are still early, but creating a tech hub takes time, and crypto-friendly zones are getting more numerous by the day, defining the future innovation map.

Will your country be on that map?