Andorra’s ‘Digital Assets Bill’ to regulate digital assets and create CBDC

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Andorra, officially the Principality of Andorra, is gearing up to introduce a digital assets regulations bill. Lawmakers in the small European country have announced a closing date for amendments to the “Digital Assets Bill” that was first proposed last year in the Andorran General Council.

Speaking to local news outlet Diari d’Andorra, David Montané, the general counsel of the Democrats for the Andorra party and one of the promoters of the text, stated that work done so far on the bill has encompassed many aspects of the digital assets market.

“It has been a complex period because it is a very technical law that we wanted to regulate many aspects of this digital world,” Montané said.

The proposed bill has two major aspects: laying the legal framework for the government to launch its own token or “programmable digital sovereign money” as the lawmakers call it, and regulating private digital assets in the country.

The government says that the CBDC will serve as a means of payment for the general public and a new form of bond issuance. According to Montané, thanks to blockchain technology, one of the benefits of issuing bonds on the CBDC platform is that costs will be greatly reduced.

This would aid in democratizing investments, the lawmaker added. On the regulation of digital assets, Andorra plans to classify them as financial instruments and create an environment where blockchain and distributed ledger technology can be regulated.

Andorrans want the adoption of digital assets to go beyond regulations

While the bill still has opponents in the parliament, it has sparked optimism among digital assets enthusiasts of the approximately 77,000-nation. For Paul, a resident of Andorra and the founder of digital currency-focused startup 21Million, the bill could pave the way for the country to adopt a digital currency standard.

In a blog post, Paul opined that Andorra could benefit immensely from a digital currency standard as it would free it from wanton money printing by the European Central Bank (ECB), which has been diluting its strong economy. Despite not being a member of the European Union, Andorra’s official currency is the euro.

He also makes a case that holding the country’s reserve in BTC can help Andorra maintain its sovereignty without having an army and without depending on Spain or France to assist it in the event of outside aggression.

Meanwhile, Andorra has long been open to integrating blockchain technology. Back in 2019, Andorra Telecom, the national telecommunication company, partnered with a Spanish non-profit association to deploy blockchain technology into its internal processes, including user data storage and a rewards system.

Watch: The BSV Global Blockchain Convention panel, Blockchain for Digital Transformation of Nations

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ggbZ8YedpBE&t=33390s