As the Securities and Exchange Commission seeks to further regulate the cryptocurrency space in the U.S, the government of Mexico is also seeking to place the digital asset under the rule of law.
While the exact details of the regulations are unclear, the bill, approved by Mexico’s lower house of Congress Thursday, is expected to offer more certainty to companies and investors in the Bitcoin and fintech space, Reuters reports.
The next step leading to its passage is a signature from President Enrique Pena Nieto.
The move comes after Mexico’s central bank warned in mid-December that Bitcoin and its peers are risky as an investment, and also cautioned consumers to be wary of initial coin offerings or ICOs.
Those worries however, are not so different from warnings given by other governments including the U.S. And South Korea. U.S. Officials have pointed to Bitcoin’s volatility, and recently sent subpoenas to companies that may be performing Initial Coin Offerings, Bloomberg reported citing sources.
South Korea meanwhile was said to be considering an outright ban of cryptocurrencies in late December, before saying earlier this year that it plans to lay out a regulatory system for the emerging sector.
In the past, Bitcoin investors have largely taken news of such regulation as a positive. A moderate level regulation, the logic goes, strips out the bad players such as hackers and scammers, leaving a much safer and less volatile asset behind.
The price of Bitcoin remained flat, at about $10,800 as of afternoon trading Friday.