Mexico Looks to Bolster Crypto Regulations

Mexico’s central bank, known as Banxico, has issued a series of proposed fintech regulations that could have an impact on the country’s burgeoning cryptocurrency and blockchain technology sectors.

Per news outlet Imparcial, Banxico is seeking to ensure that companies dealing with cryptocurrencies ensure their crypto-dealings are kept “at a healthy distance” from their conventional financial operations.

The bank will look to create guidelines for the way companies manage digital assets, due to the “ease with which cryptocurrencies can be transferred” abroad – and thus out of Mexican regulatory control.

The central bank may also seek to expand the scope of its regulatory power, requiring that all companies wishing conduct transactions in cryptocurrencies or provide any cryptocurrency-related services apply for a permit from the regulator. Banxico’s cryptocurrency-related proposals suggest creating a regulatory system similar to the one currently it uses for conventional electronic payment-related companies.

The bank says it is prepared to listen to feedback and suggestions from the industry before anything is signed into law. Readers may recall that Mexico has already won international acclaim for what many have labeled its progressive approach to cryptocurrency regulations, and is likely to continue along a cautiously pro-fintech path under the present administration.

The news comes just over a week after companies in the country launched what they labeled the country’s first “cryptocurrency for tourism,” reports Ibero Economia.

Weekly LocalBitcoins, a peer-to-peer bitcoin marketplace, volume (in bitcoin) in Mexico:

Cryptocurrencies are currently enjoying a heyday in the Latin American region, with Columbia growing particularly keen on all things fintech-related.

Earlier this month, major cryptocurrency exchange Binance revealed it was working in close cooperation with the Argentinean government as the company looks to back blockchain technology startups in the country. Binance’s CEO Changpeng Zhao has also hinted that a Buenos Aires-based “fiat-to-crypto exchange” may be in the pipelines.

Meanwhile, per Uruguayan media outlet El Observador, a blockchain developer has teamed up with a bar and restaurant in the country’s capital, Montevideo, to launch the country’s first cryptocurrency. The token is Ethereum-based, and can be used to buy food and drink at the eatery.