Leading crypto exchange Binance and credit card giant Mastercard have partnered to launch a prepaid crypto-linked card in Brazil as part of Binance’s expansion plans in Latam. The Binance card features 8% cashback for eligible purchases and supports on-the-fly conversion of 13 cryptocurrencies to make payments to local merchants.

Brazil Receives Binance Prepaid Card

Binance, a leading cryptocurrency exchange by volume traded, announced on Jan. 30 the launch of its Binance card in brazil, a product that will allow crypto users to make payments in crypto to legacy merchants. The card, which is backed by Mastercard, will enable registered customers of the exchange from all over Brazil to make crypto payments with 13 supported cryptocurrencies, including on-the-fly conversions to the Brazilian real.

The release of this product comes as no surprise to some, as Matthew Shroder, global vice president and regional director at Binance, had stated in September that Brazil was one of the top upcoming markets for the launch of a prepaid card in Latam.

Payments made with fiat currency using the prepaid card will be fee-free. However, payments involving crypto-to-fiat conversions will have a 0.9% fee. Also, the card features 8% cashback in crypto that applies to eligible purchases.

This move is part of the efforts that the exchange is making to expand its footprint in Latam. Brazil is the second market in which the instrument will be launched. Binance launched a similar product in Argentina first, in August last year.

Bringing Crypto and Payments Closer

For Binance, there is room for crypto to keep growing in the payments area, and being Brazil is one of the biggest payments hubs on the continent, the interest in bringing these services to the country is clear. About the goals that Binance wants to achieve, Guilherme Nazar, general manager at Binance for Brazil, stated:

Payments is one of the first and most obvious use cases for crypto, yet adoption has a lot of room to grow. We believe the Binance Card is a significant step in encouraging wider crypto use and global adoption, and the openness of Brazilians to innovation makes the country a great market for this release.

Nazar explained that Brazil was one of the most relevant markets for the exchange in the area, and that the company will keep investing in bringing new services and contributing to the adoption of blockchain and crypto in the country.

Binance hopes to expand this product to more markets but did not make specific announcements on this matter.

What do you think about the launch of the Binance card in Brazil? Tell us in the comments section below.

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The fate of the Panamanian crypto bill project, which was approved by the Panamanian National Assembly last year, now depends on the decision of the supreme court of the country. The sanction of the project, which was vetoed by President Laurentino Cortizo, is now in the hands of the court after Congress rejected the veto measure.

Panamanian Law Still Has Opportunity of Being Approved

The Panamanian cryptocurrency bill, which was introduced in 2021 to the National Assembly and passed by the institution last year, has the opportunity of being re-examined and sanctioned even without presidential support. The destiny of the document lies now in the hands of the Supreme Court of Panama, which will have to weigh the arguments in favor and against the sanction of the regulatory framework.

President Laurentino Cortizo, who received the document on Jan. 18 to sanction the proposed bill, delivered it to the court instead after issuing heavy objections to its form. The institution, that will have to decide the future of the document after the National Assembly, discussed it and decided to support it in its current form again. The executive informed on Jan. 26 about these procedures. It stated:

Among the considerations made by the Executive when objecting to the bill submitted to the National Assembly, it is specified that the legislative initiative requires ‘adaptation’ to the norms that regulate the financial system and the Panamanian monetary model.

Specifically, Cortizo criticizes articles 34 and 36, and by extension all of the bill.

Path to the Supreme Court

The bill has found President Laurentino Cortizo and Congress at an impasse since May, when Cortizo stated he would not sign the bill in its current form due to money laundering and crime financing concerns. However, at that time, Conrtizo also praised it, saying it was an “innovation and good law.”

Finally, in June, Cortizo exerted a partial veto measure on the bill, criticizing certain aspects of it and sending it back to the National Assembly, which had the opportunity of changing it to fit the concerns of the president or just pushing for its sanction as it approved before.

The veto caused negative reactions amongst some of the representatives of the National Assembly, who stated this was a lost opportunity to attract investments from cryptocurrency companies and to create more financial inclusion. Countries in Latam like Brazil, El Salvador, and Venezuela have already regulated cryptocurrency and crypto mining operations.

What do you think about the Panamanian crypto bill? Tell us in the comments section below.

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Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only. It is not a direct offer or solicitation of an offer to buy or sell, or a recommendation or endorsement of any products, services, or companies. Bitcoin.com does not provide investment, tax, legal, or accounting advice. Neither the company nor the author is responsible, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services mentioned in this article.

The Brazilian city of Sao Paolo has introduced the concept of blockchain in its municipal data access and transparency law. The concept of blockchain is defined as a technology that can be of use in this field, but the city has not defined the structures or the implementation for its use in the future.

Sao Paolo Law Introduces Concept of Blockchain

Little by little, more use cases of blockchain, part of the technology behind cryptocurrency, are being embraced by institutions all over the world. The city of Sao Paolo has included the concept of blockchain in its recently passed municipal data and transparency law as a tech that can be used to help the state complete its tasks.

In the legislation, blockchain is defined as an immutable ledger that can record transactions and track assets using a computer network. While the tech is cited as a useful tool, the law fails to define in which ways it can be harnessed to make data access and transparency-related tasks more efficient.

This has led some experts to believe that the inclusion of this definition in the law is just accidental, as the document fails to indicate any implementation methods. On this, Marcelo Castro, a lawyer for Machado Meyer, told O’Globo:

Institutions are recognizing blockchain as beneficial in the economy, however, there is no specific command saying how the technology will be used within a schedule, and this brings an enormous risk of going astray in a dead letter of law.

Incoming Innovation

However, legislators behind the document defended the approach they took to include new technologies in the law. Maria De Carli, the author of the regulation, defended the generic way in which the law mentions blockchain. De Carli told local sources that the law should not give strict use cases for the tech, as these must be discussed with the municipal executive branch.

De Carli mentioned several uses for blockchain tech in the scope of the law, such as aiding in the detection of cases of corruption and ensuring compliance for public servers, as the technology allows for a public view of each transaction.

At a national level, other initiatives of this kind are also in motion. In May, the Brazilian Development Bank launched the Brazilian Blockchain network, a blockchain project that aims to serve as a base for other public institutions to build their decentralized apps to increase the transparency of public function.

What do you think about the inclusion of blockchain in the data access law of Sao Paolo? Tell us in the comments section below.

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