Is the Bitcoin (BTC) revolution underway? Two new territories have announced their interest in the largest cryptocurrency, at the Bitcoin conference in Miami. Prospera, a startup city in Honduras, and Portugal’s autonomous region of Madeira have both confirmed that they are turning to this payment method. Here is an update on what this means in practice.
Honduran territory announces Bitcoin adoption
The president of Honduras Próspera Inc, as well as the president of the Madeira region both spoke at the Bitcoin 2022 conference. As far as Prospera is concerned, it is indeed an adoption of Bitcoin as a legal tender that was announced. As a reminder, this is a special economic zone on the island of Roatan, which aims to promote the development of startups.
The president of the organization that manages the development zone, Joel Bomgar, thus confirmed yesterday:
“Bitcoin within Prospera acts as a legal tender. That means no taxes on capital gains made with Bitcoin, you can make transactions freely using Bitcoin, and you can also pay taxes and fees to the jurisdiction in BTC.”
The economic zone also promotes the creation of businesses in its territory:
“You can also start a Bitcoin business in the jurisdiction using the regulatory framework of your choice, all in compliance with anti-money laundering requirements and KYC measures.”
In other big news, investors who want to support Prospera’s projects will be able to invest directly through a security token.
A more measured announcement from Madeira
Contrary to what we can read here and there, Madeira has not announced the adoption of Bitcoin. But the president of the autonomous region has displayed his support for the cryptocurrency, and he was speaking at a conference specifically targeting the topic of adoption around the world. Thus, he stated:
“I believe in the future, and I believe in Bitcoin.”
He pointed out that the region does not tax Bitcoin purchases and sales. In addition, companies enjoy a 5% tax rate in Madeira. As a reminder, Portugal as a whole already benefits from no taxation for BTC purchases and sales.
Although no concrete announcement has been made, we would like to point out that the intervention of President Miguel Albuquerque is not insignificant. Last year during the Bitcoin 2021 conference, it was indeed in this way that the President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele had announced the adoption of the cryptomurrency. So there is some symbolism in speaking on the same stage.
