Paraguay's Chamber of Deputies on Wednesday approved a bill to regulate crypto mining and trading by a vote of 40-12.
The country's Senate had already passed a similar bill in December, and the bill will now go back to that body with the Chamber of Deputies' amendments. Once the Senate approves the amendments, the pending bill will be sent to the executive branch, which has not yet indicated whether it will sign or veto it.
In a conversation with CoinDesk last year, Carlos Rejala - one of the bill's authors - said the legislation is aimed at attracting international miners to Paraguay, which has one of the lowest electricity prices in Latin America at around $0.05 per kilowatt hour.
If the bill becomes law, individual miners and companies will have to apply for an industrial electricity consumption permit and then obtain a license. The proposal also establishes a registry for individuals or entities that wish to provide crypto trading or custody services to third parties, although the concept of exchange is not included.
In the debate, Congressman Tadeo Rojas (ANR-Central) argued against the legislation, pointing out that the House Appropriations Committee had recommended its rejection, adding that the impact on job creation would be small compared to the energy consumption of mining companies.
Deputy Sebastián García (PPQ-Capital) spoke in favor of the proposal, stating that the bill provides for caps so that energy consumption matches availability.