A senator from Uruguay has introduced a bill to allow the use of cryptocurrencies as payments in contracts and would regulate their use within the South American country, Coindesk informs. The bill seeks to provide “legal, financial and fiscal security in the business derived from the production and commercialization” of cryptocurrencies. Recently, El Salvador adopted bitcoin as legal tender, but this is not the case of the Uruguayan bill.
In practice, crypto assets will be recognized and accepted by law and applicable in any legal transaction. They will be considered a valid means of payment. The bill would establish that cryptocurrencies “are products of free sale by those entities and individuals who wish to commercialize them,” and states that any natural or legal person “may receive and/or send funds in legal tender from and to their own bank accounts or those of licensed companies.”
If the bill becomes law, the government would issue a “first license” that would enable companies to trade crypto assets on exchanges. A second license would allow “storing, holding or safekeeping crypto assets,” while a third would be used to issue crypto assets or utility tokens with “financial characteristics.”
The bill also stipulates the regulation of crypto mining. Miners wouldn’t need a special license like a doctor, but would need permits from Uruguay’s Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mining in order to operate.
