In Brief:
- The Senate of Paraguay passed a bill related to mining and trading of cryptocurrencies.
- As per the bill, miners will have to request for both an authorization for industrial electricity consumption and also a license.
- The bill suggested keeping a record of any individual or business involved in crypto trading.
On Thursday, The Senate of Paraguay passed a bill related to mining and trading of crypto.
Paraguay’s Chamber of Deputies will discuss the bill in 2022, as confirmed on twitter by Paraguayan Senator Fernando Silva Facetti, one of the three authors of the measure.
The bill notes that individuals or companies involved in mining will have to request for authorization for industrial electricity consumption and then will have to apply for a license.
The bill does not clearly state the idea of an exchange. However, it clearly suggested keeping a record of any individual or business entity trying to offer trading or custody services of crypto to others.
According to the bill, Paraguay’s Industry and Commerce Secretariat will allow and supervise crypto mining within the country. It is also revealed that the country’s National Securities Commission, Anti-Money Laundering Office and National Electricity Administration will also be controlling the crypto activities.
Interestingly, the bill also mentions the fact that Paraguay consumes only a third of its energy produced and, if controlled, crypto mining activity could utilize the electricity consumption of thousands of megawatts that currently Paraguay has as surplus supply.
All in all, the bill is trying to take advantage of the country’s surplus energy keeping in mind the situation in other countries where crypto mining has become expensive. Recently, in Iceland, the energy utility has reportedly been forced to reduce energy allocations to Bitcoin miners after cropping up of many issues.