Freshman Mexican Senator Indira Kempis made headlines last year when she introduced a bill to create a central bank digital currency (CBDC). Today, she aims to make Bitcoin an integral part of her political program.
Kempis is a congresswoman from the state of Nuevo León, located north of Mexico City and shares a small border with Texas. After encountering Bitcoin several times “and not really understanding it,” she said. Decrypt that she knew she had to take a closer look after learning about the obstacles entrepreneurs faced.
After helping the group that would later become Name the nation’s largest stock exchange, Kempis has begun to open the conversation within the legislative branch and advance what she sees as “the path to creative alternatives.”
She presented the aforementioned bill, which made no mention of Bitcoin or decentralized assets in their original form. This is a pragmatic approach, she said, and a first step toward establishing the legal framework needed for the country to recognize – and ultimately accept – Bitcoin as legal tender.
In its initial bill, the country’s central bank, the Bank of Mexico, would be the only issuer of digital currency. After feeling the backlash over the introduction of a CBDC from the crypto community – although she says “it was a necessary step to open the discussion” – Kempis amended the proposal to include Bitcoin.
It’s been an arduous journey, she said Decrypt pointing out that after the installation of a Bitcoin ATM inside the Mexican Senate, Mexican congressmen and their teams are starting to ask more questions.
Initially, there wasn’t much opposition to his bill, “because no one really understood Bitcoin,” Kempis recalls. Today it attracts attention, both positive and negative. But she says she doesn’t get upset when she encounters detractors, because their rejection always means “we’re shaking up the system.”
Kempis said she would like to see a heat map of Mexico showing where lawmakers stand on the bill. “I’m looking for clear positions,” she explained, hoping to let the Mexican public know whether or not their representatives are interested in this type of innovation.
Mexico is known for its thriving tech scene, pioneering fintech law sector, and tech-savvy population. In a recent Channel Analysis Report it fell below the regional average for the use of centralized exchanges (which is more common in Latin America), which suggests that Mexicans have a broader set of crypto products.
The senator also highlighted that digital wallets are now available in indigenous languages, spoken by 6% of the population, and that remittances have increased in recent times. registration a jump of almost 10% over one year.
The bill is under discussion, but there is still a long way to go. The country’s Central Bank is an integral part of the legislative process, although it claims autonomy, and the Mexican Senate has requested a formal analysis and position from the institution. He’s not arrived yet.
The former central bank director was a staunch critic of Bitcoin, Kempis said, while his successor, current Governor Victoria Rodríguez, has remained silent in most discussions around Bitcoin.
Other politicians are not sold. Andres Manuel López Obrador, also known as AMLO, came out to ensure that Mexico “wouldn’t it be” adopt Bitcoin as legal tender after Nayib Bukele’s El Salvador approved its pioneering Bitcoin law.
That said, the digital peso, which the financial institution is targeting, should arrive sometime in 2024, the senator said.
Announcing her candidacy for president in the upcoming 2024 elections, Kempis said she plans to continue her Bitcoin crusade.
Beyond the possibility of being president, the role of the legislative branch, for Senator Kempis, is to offer “a dose” of education and to help advance the debate through well-thought-out laws and regulations . “If The Savior we could do it, we surely can too,” she said.
Ultimately, however, Kempis takes a practical approach to technology, saying Decrypt that this will not solve all of Mexico’s problems. Despite her optimism, she concluded: “It is not a panacea. »