Mayer Mizrachi, the mayor of Panama City, Panama, announced today that the city government will accept payments in crypto. It will accept Bitcoin, Ethereum, and two stablecoins for taxes, permits, fees, etc.

However, Mizrachi clarified that the municipal government has a legal requirement to accept these funds only in USD. It will exchange cryptoassets for cash with a partnered bank, presenting a severe limit to potential crypto adoption.

Is Panama City Accepting Crypto?

In the last few months, a tide of pro-crypto regulation has swept over many of the world’s jurisdictions. This obviously includes the United States at the federal and state levels, but many other countries are rising to the occasion.

Case in point, the mayor of Panama’s capital city just announced that the municipal government will accept payments in crypto.

“Panama City council has just voted in favor of becoming the first public institution of government to accept payments in crypto. Citizens will now be able to pay taxes, fees, tickets and permits entirely in crypto starting with BTC, ETH, USDC, USDT,” claimed Mayer Mizrachi, the mayor of Panama City.

Mizrachi went on to explain some previous efforts to accept crypto payments in Panama. Four years ago, a legislative initiative tried to enable crypto payments all over the country.

It got some traction but eventually stalled out in 2022. In 2023, the Supreme Court ruled the bill “unenforceable.” Since then, it doesn’t seem like any other serious efforts have made progress.

Panama City’s municipal government is circumventing the legislature to accept crypto payments, but the strategy has significant drawbacks. Mizrachi explained that public institutions must receive funds in US dollars, and he couldn’t circumvent this requirement.

In other words, any crypto payments will actually go to a partnered bank. The bank will actually custody (or dispose of) these assets, while the city only holds USD. Mizrachi’s effort avoids a contentious legislative battle, but its actual impact might be severely limited.

Although Panama has its own currency, the balboa, the US dollar has more legal standing in a few different ways. It’s a legal tender; public institutions have to accept it, and the balboa is actually pegged to the dollar anyway.

This is a very similar situation to what made El Salvador accept Bitcoin as a currency, as it also had to use the US dollar as its sole currency.

Mizrachi explained that this short workaround will increase “the free flow of crypto” through Panama’s economy, but it may not be that simple. Depending on the agreement between the city government and partnered banks, it could just dump its cryptoassets on the international market.

If Panama wants to actually adopt cryptocurrency, it may need more sustainable measures integrated to the local economy.

The SEC and Ripple’s joint motion to pause legal proceedings on their cross-appeal has been approved. Both parties will have 60 more days to agree on how to amicably end their legal battle.

The Ripple case has been moving toward a final resolution for over a month, but procedural hurdles keep the legal battle open. For example, the Commission cannot sign any agreement before Paul Atkins officially takes his seat as Chair.

When Will Ripple and The SEC Reach an Agreement?

The Ripple vs SEC case was one of the largest enforcement actions of the Gensler era, and it’s been wrapping up for over a month now. The Commission signaled that it would drop the case and then fully committed shortly afterward.

One remaining cross-appeal still stands between them and a final agreement, but they both proposed to settle. That proposal has made progress:

“The parties’ joint motion to hold the appeal in abeyance has been granted. The SEC is directed to file a status report within 60 days of this Order,” claimed James Filan, an observing attorney with no direct connection to either party.

Specifically, Ripple and the SEC filed a joint request last week to pause all courtroom appearances related to the cross-appeal. The two parties were making solid progress with an agreement and wished to save time and legal fees.

The SEC also made a similar joint request with Binance, claiming that the two parties had “productive talks” toward a settlement. That request differed slightly from the joint motion filed by Ripple and the SEC, as the Binance filing mentioned broader policy implications.

Still, today’s development shows that things can progress much faster than the 60-day deadlines.

Unfortunately, there are still a few obstacles to a speedy resolution. President Trump nominated Paul Atkins to be the next SEC Chair, and he successfully passed his confirmation hearings. The formal swearing-in ceremony hasn’t actually happened, though.

It’s a formality that could happen at any time, but procedural issues can still hold up the process.

That is to say, Atkins will need to Chair the SEC to approve a settlement with Ripple. The crypto industry is used to a chaotic and fast-paced business environment, but legal proceedings can take a very long time.

Ideally, Atkins could sign a settlement agreement as soon as he takes office. For all we know, however, more minor delays could continue.