On December 17th, the Senate of Paraguay reportedly provided the official approval for a crypto bill rolled out in July 2021.

Particularly, the introduced legislation – primarily aims to offer definitions for numerous key terms including virtual assets, as well as urges for crypto mining licenses – will reportedly be moved to the Deputy Chamber for the next deliberation step.

Senator Fernando Silva Facetti, the bill’s sponsor, reportedly disclosed that it has received the go-ahead from the Paraguayan Senate, following a contentious discussion. 

Per the senator, the law has an additional goal of nurturing the development of crypto mining activities, via utilizing the surplus electricity generated in the nation.

The body of the legislation includes a definition for virtual assets, tokens, cryptocurrency mining, and VASPs (virtual asset service providers). It also equips the Ministry of Industry and Commerce with the sufficient authoritative power to look for help from government bodies beyond its boundaries, to carry out the implementation of the regulation.

“Virtual asset mining is a digital and innovative industry. This industry will benefit from all incentive mechanisms provided in national legislation.” The bill explicitly states that cryptocurrency mining is a legal activity. 

The amount of generated electricity Paraguay is capable of exceeds the actual demand from the nation. Consequently, a variety of companies reportedly expressed their interest in setting up cryptocurrency mining operations there, to take advantage of this potential surplus.

In July, Paraguayan Congressperson Carlos Rejala and Senator Fernando Silva Facetti reportedly put up a Bitcoin (BTC) bill in Congress, demonstrating the lawmakers’ commitment to design a comprehensive digital asset policy for their country.

The legislation has reportedly managed to secure the green light from the nation’s Congress and will be put up for further debate in the Chamber of Deputies in 2022.