Mexico's president confirmed that the country will not follow El Salvador's footsteps by enacting cryptocurrency as a legal form of payment
Mexico will not adopt cryptocurrencies as legal tender anytime soon, according to President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador. The local press Expansion Politica reported that, during a press conference held yesterday, the president dismissed the cryptocurrency as it is not critical to the country's development from a financial point of view.
President Lopez Obrador has not expressed his opinion on cryptocurrencies directly, but in his latest remarks he said Mexico needed to maintain orthodoxy in its financial stance.
"We're not going to change in that respect. We think we should maintain orthodoxy in financial management (and) not try to innovate too much in financial management."
Unlike leaders in El Salvador and Venezuela, President Lopez Obrador feels the country need not burden itself with adopting cryptocurrency. He noted that rather than making the economy Bitcoin- friendly, the government needed to focus on tightening measures around tax collection to prevent evasion.
“The truth is that we had no problems in terms of tax collection and that gives us a lot of peace of mind,” he said .
The Bank of Mexico and the National Banking and Securities Commission issued a joint statement in June warning potential investors about the risks of investing in virtual assets. Institutions also warned against using such assets as a means of exchange. The announcement came after billionaire Ricardo Salinas Pliego stated that his bank is studying the possibility of accepting Bitcoin.
“Of course, I recommend using Bitcoin, and my bank and I are working to be the first bank in Mexico to accept Bitcoin, if you need more details or information, follow me on my Twitter account ,” wrote Pliego.
In Russia, President Vladimir Putin has taken a less radical stance on cryptocurrency. Speaking during a CNBC-moderated interview posted on the Kremlin website on Thursday, the Russian leader said he sees value in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. He added that digital assets could someday be used as an account settlement unit.
Putin also insisted that, despite their value and potential usability, he did not believe that cryptocurrencies could be used in the oil trade. Asked whether he saw the cryptocurrency potentially providing an alternative to the dollar in oil negotiations, given that Russia was a victim of recent US sanctions, the Russian president hinted that cryptocurrencies were still immature. He further highlighted that the huge energy requirements associated with cryptocurrency could impede its adoption.
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