The acceptance of Bitcoin as legal cash in El Salvador earlier this month sparked national aspirations throughout Central and South America.
Paraguayan congressman Carlitos Rejala sparked excitement among Bitcoin enthusiasts when he stated that Bitcoin would be the “official currency” if he were elected President in 2023, according to a recent tweet.
Si nos jugamos a la Presidencia en el 2023!#bitcoin cómo moneda oficial y listo! If we run for the presidency in 2023#bitcoin as official currency!
— Carlitos Rejala 🙏🇵🇾🙌 (@carlitosrejala) September 17, 2021Rejala has already expressed his support for the king currency, and this was not the first time he did so. It was only a few months ago that the Paraguayan lawmaker made the bold statement that he would introduce legislation to make Bitcoin legal in his country.
Thank you very much 🙏🇵🇾🙌 @BitcoinMagazine 😍🚀
#Bitcoin #etherium #eth https://t.co/DOXkF66Cvu
— Carlitos Rejala 🙏🇵🇾🙌 (@carlitosrejala) June 18, 2021The much-anticipated law, on the other hand, skewed more toward crypto-currency regulation. Article 14 says the following in a translated version:
“The Virtual Assets trading entities must inform the acquirer of the trading conditions with Virtual Assets, expressly notifying that the virtual assets are not recognized as legal tender, therefore, they are not backed by the Central Bank of Paraguay.”
Despite this, Rejala’s most recent promise suggested that he was still optimistic about Bitcoin and open to the idea of making it legal tender if he were to win the election.
Note that the Paraguayan guarani (PYG), the country’s official currency since 1944, has been fighting against inflation for much of that time. Despite the fact that citizens in some nations suffering from inflation have turned to Bitcoin, this does not appear to be the case in Paraguay.
Comparing Paraguay to other nations in Latin America, a Useful Tulips compilation of data from Paxful and LocalBitcoins – P2P exchanges – shows that the country has had a very minuscule number of cash transactions in the last two years.
When it came to the 2nd of September, its historical volume stood at $1,836 and the country’s value was $1,795,366.
Furthermore, the Itaip and Yacyretá hydroelectric dams in Paraguay are well-known worldwide. As a result of this, cryptocurrency miners have expressed an interest in the country’s renewable energy sources.
A recent statement from Bitfarm Ltd. stated that the Bitcoin mining business had negotiated a five-year lease in Paraguay to secure environmentally friendly hydroelectric power at a competitive rate for its customers.
“The new Paraguay facility will be used to house approximately 3,000 used miners capable of 150 Petahash per second and is anticipated to be fully operational by December 2021. If the site were fully operational today it would be producing Bitcoin at a cost of approximately US$7,850 per coin.”
However, the country is currently coping with serious environmental challenges, including recent wildfires and high temperatures, both of which have caused widespread devastation throughout the country.
