Mexico Senator Swings in Favour of CBDC Legalisation Before Bitcoin

Mexican senator from the state of Nuevo León, Indrea Kempis has formally introduced a bill to include virtual assets as currency that can circulate in Mexico. Lempis, in February had stated she wants to make Mexico the second country after El Salvador to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, however, the bill proposes that only a central bank can issue a digital currency while steering clear of any mention of Bitcoin. The omission is particularly odd since Kempis recently appeared on stage at the Bitcoin Conference in Miami to discuss Bitcoin's adoption of legal tender.

The original legislation was tabled last Wednesday where the senator clearly stated that the focus of the bill was a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) and not a law that seeks to legalise Bitcoin. As per a translation of the now amended bill, the law wants only “Central Bank Digital Currency” to be listed as “circulating currencies and virtual assets” among Mexican banknotes and accepted metal coins.

As per a Bitcoin Magazine report, financial system operations "need the intervention of the Mexican State through the creation of laws, secondary provisions and, above all, the generation of public policies that promote development and economic growth; the stability of the financial system and the protection of users," the draft explains.

The draft bill also outlines the need for the Mexican state to protect users from malicious service providers, be it intentional or unintentional.

“It is essential that the State, through the regulation of the financial system, promote a greater access to and use of financial services through intervention to ensure that service providers provide fair treatment and quality service to their users, as well as how to create financial education programs that provide the necessary knowledge for Mexicans to make informed and aware decisions of their resources,” the translated text reads.

Kempis' bill also mentions that decentralisation is not necessary for a digital form of money, a remark that falls in line with that of Dinesh Shah, the director of the Bank of Canada (BOC) who recently stated in an interview that the roll-out of CBDCs don't necessarily point toward the need for blockchain technology at its core.