Bitcoiners present bill to preserve blockchain and decentralization in Argentina
The non-governmental organization Bitcoin Argentina has presented a bill proposing to regulate the cryptocurrency market in a way that preserves decentralization and strengthens public trust.
The proposed legal framework was presented by Bitcoin Argentina President Ricardo Mihura during LABITCONF 2023 in the Argentine capital, Buenos Aires, on November 10. Bitcoin Argentina previously rejected the idea that the industry needed to be regulated. However, Bitcoin supporters now say it is necessary to not only preserve the blockchain, but also hold bad actors accountable to the fullest extent of the law.
“We have always rejected attempts to regulate the crypto economy, but this time we have set ourselves the goal of giving a positive response, with only two objectives: preserving decentralization and protecting savings and public trust. ” Mihura added:
“We cannot turn a blind eye to the number of dishonest actors and projects circulating with the blockchain brand. »
The first article of the legal framework focuses on separating cryptocurrency platforms and service providers into three categories to determine ownership rights: decentralized, locally centralized or willing to engage with authorities, and globally centralized .
Platforms falling into one of two centralized categories would be allowed to operate freely, but their customers would benefit from “the broadest possible judicial protection”, guaranteeing the right to claim damages in the event of the company’s bankruptcy.
It is understood that the Argentine justice system will not intervene in the event of failure of decentralized platforms.
Courts will decide whether or not a cryptocurrency platform is sufficiently decentralized when settling claims brought by allegedly aggrieved customers.
Related: Argentina’s central bank bans cryptocurrencies in payment apps
Mihura pointed out that imposing an outright ban on cryptocurrencies – which some governments have attempted to do – simply wouldn’t work given the global nature of blockchain:
“Even the United States cannot effectively prohibit the operation of the cryptoeconomy without a license (…) Argentina has no possibility of prohibiting its residents from operating in global environments (so) we believe that “It does not make sense to propose a top-down approach to prohibition and we choose to propose the best that the law can offer its citizens.
“This includes those directly responsible and all those who benefit from the marketing chain of a fraud, all the way to the final victim,” Mihura added.
The bill proposed by Blockchain Argentina comes a week before the second round of the Argentine presidential election between Sergio Massa, the country’s economy minister, and Javier Milei, an economist turned politician who wants to abolish Argentina’s central bank and adopt the American dollar.
Argentina is currently grappling with an inflationary crisis. Over the past 12 months, the country recorded the fourth highest annual inflation rate in the world at 121.7%.
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