“a drinking paradise” for bitcoin and blockchain

In the framework of a panel at Talent Land Jalisco 2021, bitcoin entrepreneurs from Paraguay affirmed that the country has “all the conditions” to be a “strategic technological hub in the region”.

Who better to describe how the bitcoiner road is traversed in Paraguay than those who walk it daily. And “walking” really seems like a word according to this process, which is advancing step by step for a greater adoption of blockchains in the South American country.

The founding partners of Arapy Network, a project blockchain paraguayan drew the map of the journey so far and what lies ahead of you, the longing of getting to a good destination: “In Paraguay are all given conditions to raise the potential of the country: the weather is ideal, it is a quite productive, we have a lot of energy, a lot of young people and a land of high quality,” said Jorge Valenzuela. “In addition, we are positioned in the heart of Latin America. Paraguay can be a strategic technological hub in the region, ” he added.

Jorge Alcaraz, the CEO of the startup that will launch its testnet in July, encouraged himself to more by analyzing the possibility of adopting bitcoin (BTC): “Paraguay would be a strong competitor for El Salvador if we put the batteries on. It is a drinkable paradise.”

What stage is bitcoin in Paraguay

Every trip presents a landscape, and in Paraguay bitcoin still crosses ” a gray area, “according to Joaquín Morínigo Fiorio, the third member of Arapy who participated in the panel titled”Bitcoin in Paraguay.” However, some green shoots appear: “There are quite a few bitcoin communities in Paraguay. It is a market with a lot of potential but very small,” he said.

In turn, Morinigo considered that the informal economy does not allow people to bank, “and that’s a giant niche for cryptocurrency and blockchain adoption.””Blockchain and cryptocurrencies open so many doors, and governments are going to have to use them sooner or later,” he added.

Currently, in Paraguay “there is an official exchange that is Paraguayan and is the only regulated. The other operations are carried out on international platforms or P2P, and there are many exchangers where you can buy and sell cryptocurrencies,” Morínigo explained.

For his part, Jorge Alcaraz said that the adoption of bitcoin as a legal currency in El Salvador was a big boostand we believe Paraguay could be the second country to have that kind of acceptance.” However, he highlighted some obstacles to this, among which stand out the” financial culture on the ground ” of the population and the prejudices related to cryptocurrencies, which they struggle to eradicate.

All three speakers agreed that the main cryptocurrency could be useful for sending and receiving remittances and for e-commerce, still underdeveloped in the country, according to his vision. In addition, Jorge Valenzuela stated that, as for the adoption of bitcoin, “a qualitative leap could be made by the hand of the State or a large company.”

A fertile country for Bitcoin mining

One of the engines that drive the progress of Paraguay is the production of abundant and cheap energy, thanks to the huge hydroelectric plants that the country has. For that reason and in relation to cryptocurrency mining, Morínigo said: “Companies from all over the world decide to come to Paraguay. For example, there is one of the largest farms in the world, owned by a Chinese company, and another Korean company is in plans.”

In the same sense, Alcaraz ratified: “We have the highest availability of energy per capita in the world, practically. There are quite large mining farms here, with foreign investments. That could be better leveraged and generate momentum for people to adopt bitcoin.”

Is a Bitcoin Law approaching in Paraguay?

Finally, the entrepreneurs explained what direction the Paraguayan government has taken in the bitcoiner route. In his view, there are indications that both sectors, public and private, travel in the same direction.

There are two facts that officiate counterweight to the advancement of cryptocurrencies. The first is that, so far, bitcoin Law in Paraguay is nothing firm, but “only rumors and hopes.” The other is that the Central Bank of Paraguay ” warns about the risks of cryptocurrencies to society.”

However, several factors are positive. The most important, and which directly benefits Arapy Network, is that the government agreed for the first time to fund projects that implement blockchains through Conacyt, as CriptoNoticias has reported in previous dialogues with Morínigo Fiorio, also known as Criptoboi, his Twitter username.

Therefore,” it would be rare for the government to put obstacles in the way of projects that they are financing themselves, ” Alcaraz says. Valenzuela, meanwhile, said that it welcomed “the government is approaching the sector, is opening the doors”, and even explained that the Secretariat for the Prevention of Laundering of Money or Goods, “he pulled out a policy saying that recognizes digital assets and people that will make transactions with them have to register as obligated”.

In the meantime, Arapy is committed to the education and promotion of this technology. To do this, it already has agreements with public and private universities in the country and dialogues with legislators to inform them about the potential of blockchains. Likewise, its founders establish contacts with people from Spain, El Salvador and other countries, all to add fuel to the illusion that drives their journey.