Panama City Council Votes To Embrace Bitcoin And Crypto

In a Thursday announcement, the Panama City Council has officially unveiled that is has approved the acceptance of Bitcoin (BTC) and other digital assets

The Panama City Council has approved the acceptance of Bitcoin (BTC) and other digital assets for municipal services including tax, fees and permits.

Mayor Mayer Mizrachi announced the decision on X (formerly Twitter), highlighting the council’s Bitcoin vote as pivotal.

“Panama City council has just voted in favor of becoming the 1st public institution of government to accept payments in crypto. Citizens will now be able to pay taxes, fees, tickets, and permits entirely in crypto, starting with BTC, ETH, USDC, and USDT,” Mizrachi disclosed.

This move marks a significant shift in how residents can engage with their local government, enabling seamless transactions using Bitcoin and digital currencies for everyday expenses like taxes, tickets, permits, and fees.

Announcing this development, the mayor also highlighted that this achievement was realized without the need for new Bitcoin and crypto legislation, a challenge that had previously hindered similar initiatives in the country.

“Prior administrations tried to push a bill in the senate to make this possible, but we found a simple way to do it without new legislation.”

To realize this initiative, the city council will be partnering with a bank to process the transactions, receiving payments in cryptocurrencies and converting them to US dollars on the spot.

This partnership not only facilitates the acceptance of digital currencies but also ensures compliance with existing legal frameworks that mandate public institutions to receive funds in dollars. “This allows for the free flow of crypto in the entire economy and entire government,” Mizrachi stated.

The Panama City Mayor’s Office also confirmed the news via its official social media channels, adding, “We will soon become the first public institution in the country to allow payment for municipal services in cryptocurrency, through an authorized bank that will be responsible for converting the proceeds into dollars for the Mayor’s Office.”

Looking ahead, Mayor Mizrachi revealed that the agreement with the banking partner is to be finalized next week. “The deal’s being signed next week at the Blockchain conference in Panama. Look out for the signing of the deal next week.”

At the time of writing, BTC trades at $84,825, up nearly 5% in the weekly time frame after a sharp decline toward 75,700 last week. As of now, the market’s leading cryptocurrency is 22% below its all-time high reached back in January of this year.