Costa Rica, a central American country, is seeking to become a crypto-friendly nation and has also raised a proposal reflecting the same.
Johana Obando, a Costa Rican lawmaker, along with Congressmen Luis Diego Vargas and Jorge Dengo, has proposed a bill to Congress intending to regulate the country’s crypto market.
In her Twitter feed, Obando explained that the Crypto assets Market Law (MECA) is a regulatory framework that identifies digital assets and allows the ones interested in purchase, sale, or investment to do so with no interference from the country’s government.
MECA would also not levy tax on cryptocurrencies when used in products purchased or even the ones stored. It also prevents the government from taxing profits from the crypto produced by the mining industry; however, profits from crypto trading are subject to income taxes.
Hence, Obando wants the country’s government to recognize the potential of crypto and allow the citizens to invest in it, store it, or spend it freely. In her opinion, it would also attract foreign investors and fintech companies and create employment opportunities in the country.
However, the lawmaker explicitly stated that the bill proposed is very different from the Bitcoin law in El Salvador. El Salvador has made Bitcoin a legal tender; hence businesses having the technological means of accepting Bitcoin must do so, whereas the Costa Rican bill intends to introduce cryptocurrency as a private digital currency of free access and does not mandate the state to acquire or replace them.
MECA is close to the Panamanian bill, which was introduced earlier this year. It sought to regulate the use of Bitcoin and legalize DAOs but was vetoed by the President. However, countries like Paraguay and Chile are expected to pass regulations focussing on crypto.