Versión Español
EspañolIf you were thinking about buying or selling bitcoin, then you might want to stay out of Mexico. The currency won’t have any legal backing from the federal government there, let alone the country’s Central Bank, if a bill working its way through Congress is ultimately successful.
The most recent draft of the “Financial Technology Law” includes regulations of institutions dedicated to the purchase and sale of virtual currencies. It reportedly came as a surprise to many, as it wasn’t mentioned in the previous draft of the law released in March.
Article 30 of the draft’s third chapter establishes new regulations of virtual currency operations, saying that “in no case will active virtual currency be considered legal in national territory.”
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Agustin Carstens, Governor of Mexico’s Central Bank, said virtual currencies like bitcoin do not have the backing of a central bank or a tax-paying country, which makes them more like commodities. Unlike real currencies, there’s nothing to secure their place in a financial system.
Though Banxico doesn’t support bitcoin, its role in the use of cryptocurrencies is still considered fundamental in the country: “ITFs can only operate with virtual assets that are determined by the Bank of Mexico through general provisions in order to carry out operations with said virtual assets,” Carstens said. “They must have the prior authorization of the Bank of Mexico.”
Carstens also said that “the Bank of Mexico will establish the measures that the FTTs must be subject to for custody and control over the virtual assets exercised in carrying out such operations and acts.”
Source: El Economista.
