Legislators in Mexico are pushing a bill to regulate Bitcoin

The upper chamber of Mexico's national legislature has approved a bill on financial technology that would bring local bitcoin exchanges under control of the central bank.


Legislators in Mexico are pushing a bill to regulate Bitcoin
According to Reuters, the bill cleared the Mexican Senate on December 5, laying the groundwork for consideration and potential passage in the Chamber of Deputies, the lower house of the legislature. Referring to sources familiar with the process, Reuters said that the bill is expected to clear the Chamber of Deputies on December 15.

As previously reported, this measure would clarify that bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies are not legal tender in Mexico. In addition, exchanges and other companies that deal with cryptocurrencies would be formally settled by the Banco de Mexico, the central bank of Mexico.

The purpose of this change is to provide legal clarity for companies, including those working with bitcoin, which are creating new types of products and services.

Nevertheless, as Reiter points out, the finer details of the bill are still being eliminated, since it is expected that the so-called secondary laws will be based on this measure.

Statements by officials at the Banco de Mexico give an idea of how the central bank can go about regulating cryptocurrencies. In mid-2014, the Banco de Mexico moved to ban banks in the country from direct treatment with bitcoin.