Paraguay’s president vetoes crypto-mining law, citing “massive” energy costs

On Monday, Paraguay’s president, Mario Abdo Benítez, vetoed a bill that would have regulated various digital asset activities, including the commercialization of crypto mining in the country.

“The Executive Branch objects to the bill that seeks to regulate crypto mining in the country,” the president’s official account tweeted.

according to decreewas the primary reason behind the president’s decision against the bill that crypto mining uses large amounts of energy but provides relatively thin employment benefits.

“Firm mining of virtual assets requires the use of intensive and massive electrical energy and large capacity for energy production, which the country has,” said decree. “Still, it doesn’t generate a lot of labor like any other industry.”

According to the bill, crypto miners would have paid higher electricity prices. However, the rates were capped at 15% above the current industrial tariff, a clause decree described as an “indirect incentive” to industry.

Earlier this month, the president of Paraguay’s National Electricity Administration (ANDE) Félix Sosa expressed his concerns about the bill, and said he would ask the president for a partial veto of the bill.

Crypto veto misses the mark

“The manager washes his hands and does not accept mining as an industry that generates resources and sources of work, but that operates in a gray area without having access to the financial system or establishing regulations that guarantee the investor, consumer and the state,” so Senator Fernando Silva Facetti, the bill’s sponsor.

According to the senator, the veto could hinder investment and job opportunities in the cryptocurrency mining industry.

He too criticised the government for its lack of vision. The The Paraguayan Senate passed the bill last month before he was vetoed by the president.

Both chambers of the Paraguayan legislature will evaluate the vetoed bill before further decisions.