PANAMA Law and Practice Contributed by: Kharla Aizpurua O., Roberto Vidal and Miguel Arias, Morgan & Morgan
10.11Virtual Currencies Currently, no regulations apply to digital assets, cryptocurrencies, or virtual currencies in Pan - ama. However, both the Superintendence of Banks of Panama (SBP) and the Superintend - ency of the Securities Market (SMV) have issued public notices and opinions stating that they do not generally monitor cryptocurrencies. Each entity has specifically established the following: The SMV In Opinion 07-2018, the SMV indicated that it does not consider cryptocurrencies (specifi - cally, bitcoin) as currencies, noting that “in the Republic of Panama, no inherent value has been given to bitcoin or another type of cryptocurren- cy.” The SMV also confirmed that the concept of “securities” under the Securities Law does not encompass virtual currencies, so Bitcoin is not considered a security. Additionally, the SMV established that no forex regulation applies to cryptocurrencies, as it only applies to currencies that are an exclusive and incidental activity of broker-dealer houses. In a statement issued on 25 April 2018, the SMV referred to cryptocurrencies as “digital assets intended for purchases, sales, or other financial transactions, created by companies or individu- als and stored electronically in a blockchain, a database that maintains a permanent record of these digital transactions.” Therefore, the SMV does not consider digital assets, cryptocurrencies, or virtual currencies to be subject to its supervision, and no license is required to operate activities involving the exchange of virtual currencies or cryptocurren - cies, including bitcoin and other cryptocurren - cies.
blockchain are not considered “securities” under its current definition in the Securities Law. 10.4 Regulation of “Issuers” of Blockchain Assets Issuers of blockchain assets not regulated in Panama. The SMV issued Opinion 1-2018, in which it concluded that a platform under which a platform raised capital from the general public and issued a token registered in the platform’s blockchain in exchange for the investment was not an activity that was under the SMV’s jurisdic - tion because tokens are not considered “securi- ties” under its definition in the Securities Law. 10.5 Regulation of Blockchain Asset Trading Platforms Blockchain asset trading platforms and the secondary market trading of blockchain assets, either through intermediaries or peer-to-peer, are not regulated in Panama. 10.6 Staking The provision of staking services relating to cryptocurrencies is not regulated in Panama. 10.7 Crypto-Related Lending The provision of lending services relating to cryptocurrencies is not regulated in Panama. 10.8 Cryptocurrency Derivatives The offering of cryptocurrency derivatives is not regulated in Panama. 10.9 Decentralised Finance (DeFi) Decentralised Finance is not regulated in Pan - ama. 10.10Regulation of Funds Funds that invest in blockchain assets are not regulated in Panama.
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