Andora passes digital assets act greenlighting blockchain and Bitcoin

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Andorra, a tiny European nation between France and Spain, is a glimmer of progress. The Digital Assets Act, which establishes a legal framework for virtual currencies and blockchain technology, recently received approval from the General Council of Andorra.

The act is divided into two sections. The first section involves developing "programmable digital sovereign money.” The Andorran citizens can transact using this digital money within a closed system. To put it simply, this section of the Act points toward a possible deployment of a CBDC system in Andorra in the near future.

The second section of the act concerns itself with regulations surrounding distributed ledger and blockchain technologies. The act also refers to crypto and other digital assets as financial instruments. According to Paul (who opted not to use his last name), the new rule may bring in new customers, including the CEO of the local Bitcoin company 21Million. He stated, "The outcome they're trying to achieve is to attract new businesses to locate in the country by offering some legal clarification making it easier and more transparent. They see this as a way to attract talents and entrepreneurs to the new economy."

Crypto assets and other digital currencies aren’t recognised as a legal tender in Andorra and the Digital Assets Act proposes no new provisions for exchange methods via these assets. This privilege has only been granted to Euro, European Central Bank’s preferred currency. Despite this, Paul, a fervent Bitcoiner, continues to argue for the acceptance of Bitcoin (BTC) in Andorra.

The Digital Assets Act is a step toward "making crypto a day-to-day reality," according to the national newspaper Diari d'Andorra. Paul claimed that the steps taken by the Andorran government with regard to digital assets determine how "crypto-friendly" anything will be from a commercial perspective.