Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benitez vetoed a law regulating the mining and trading of cryptocurrencies.

According to the head of state, high electricity consumption in mining digital assets could hinder the development of a sustainable national industry.

Senator Fernando Silva Fachetti criticized Benitez’s decision. He noted that such an approach “signals short-sightedness.”

“The president opposes regulation of an industry that requires control and eliminates the possibility of attracting new investors and formalizing hundreds of small and medium-sized companies operating in this industry,” Facetti said.

At the end of May, the amended document was approved in the lower house of the country’s parliament. The main change concerned the transfer of supervisory functions to the Ministry of Industry and Trade.

The bill included licensing miners and creating a register of natural and legal persons that provide trading and storage services to third parties for digital assets.

In July, the Paraguayan Senate supported the initiative, after which the document was sent to the head of state for approval.

Earlier, Congressman Carlos Rehala announced a bill related to bitcoin. He later clarified that Paraguay does not plan to grant legal tender status to digital gold, but will develop an “effective” regulation for cryptocurrencies.

Recall that Panama President Laurentino Cartiso also did not support the document adopted by the Parliament regulating the use of cryptocurrencies in their current form.

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