This is a big development for a number of reasons.
- Panama is a much more significant country in the world of finance than El Salvador or Central African Republic.
- Panama is HUGE in shipping with 70% of the world's ships flying the Panama flag.
- It makes a 7 other cryptocurrencies including Litecoin and Ethereum legal tender in Panama and thus foreign currency in other countries. This means trades between them will be taxed as forex transactions not capital transactions.
I want to talk a bit more the implications for shipping and the crews of ships all around the world.
A ship is subject to the laws of the country in which it is registered and whose flag it flies. In international waters these are the only laws that apply, but even in national waters of another country the laws of the flag country apply when onboard.
This means that the crew and passengers of the 70% of the world's ships that fly the Panama flag now can pay with BTC and other cryptocurrencies.
I haven't looked at the details of the Panama legislation but generally legal tender means it must be accepted in payment of debts. El Salvador went further than this and mandated adoption more generally.
I am especially pleased with this development and happened to have a Panama flag on hand to celebrate with my friend @brianoflondon.
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