Panama City Will Accept Bitcoin, Ethereum as Payment for Public Services

Panama City plans to accept cryptocurrencies as payment for public services, indicating that legislators there and throughout Panama take more crypto-friendly attitudes.

The city of the city has approved a proposal this week so that its local offices can accept payments in crypto, Panama City Mayor Mayer Mizrachi said Wednesday in an X post. According to the new law, the local population can pay for taxes, tickets, permits and reimbursements with various digital assets, starting with Bitcoin, Ethereum and the USDC and Tether (USDT) Stablecoins.

It is unclear whether and when Panama City accepts other types of digital assets in exchange for public services.

A representative of Panama City did not respond immediately Decrypts Request for comments on this.

“Previous administrations tried to push a bill in the Senate to make this possible, but we have found a simple way [accept crypto payments] Without new legislation, “Mizrachi said in the post.

To facilitate crypto payments to its local government offices, Panama City will collaborate with banks that are equipped to receive digital assets and convert to Fiat, Mizrachi added.

The Pro-Crypto-Push from Panama City is amid the growing adoption worldwide of digital assets as exchange mediums.

In 2021, El Salvador became the first country in the world that recognized Bitcoin as a legal means of payment, with the Central African Republic followed less than a year later. In the meantime, Fiji and Tonga have investigated to recognize token as an official currency.

In Switzerland, civil servants also have Greenlit Bitcoin payments for some public services in some of the regions of the country.

Although the capital of Panama has indicated that it is warming up for virtual currencies, Panaman legislers have not embraced crypto.

In 2022, Panamanian President Laurentino Cortizo Partially veto an account Bitcoin would regulate and legalize decentralized autonomous organizations, returning the draft legislation to the national meeting of the country for debate.

He reasoned that the bill requires[d] Adjustment to the standards that regulate our financial system, ”Local Media -Outlet La Prensa reported at that time.

Published by James Rubin