Honduras special economic zone grants BTC ‘unit of account’ status

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Próspera ZEDE, a special economic zone in the northern island of Roatán in Honduras, has recognized BTC as a unit of account.

Próspera first dived into BTC in 2022, with Joel Bomgar, the president of Honduras Próspera Inc., announcing it in April at a BTC event. By making it legal tender, Próspera eliminated any capital gains tax on the digital asset and accepted it for tax payments to the local government.

In the latest decree, the special zone now recognizes BTC as a unit of account.

“Próspera ZEDE recognises the right of (e)resident legal entities organised or registered under the authority of the Próspera Entity Registry Statute to use [BTC] as their respective unit of account, in the sense of the monetary unit or measure of value in terms of which their accounts are kept and their values stated,” the latest publication from the local authority stated.

As a unit of account, BTC can now be used to measure the market value of regional goods and services.

The zone’s tax commissioner, Jorge Colindres, pushed the latest decree. He commented that the decree signifies “the right to financial and monetary freedom,” which Próspera stands for.

“People should be free to carry out transactions, do their accounting and report taxes in the currency of their free choice,” he stated on social media.

En @ProsperaZEDE creemos en el derecho a la libertad financiera y la libertad monetaria. Las personas deben ser libres de realizar transacciones, llevar su contabilidad y reportar impuestos en la moneda de su libre elección. #Honduras #BTC https://t.co/nlaFLtheRL

— Jorge Colindres (@GeorgeColindres) January 7, 2024

Próspera is a special economic zone established under the ZEDE laws of Honduras, which borrows from the concept of charter cities. It offers lower taxes, self-regulation, and a privatized government to attract foreign investors. While the ZEDEs remain under the Honduran constitution and abide by its criminal code, they have their own civil laws and regulations.

Próspera has termed its BTC adoption a quest for financial freedom, but the special zone has ties to some of the BTC faction’s most prominent investors. It’s managed by Honduras Próspera Inc, a company owned by billionaires Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen of a16z, two vocal investors in BTC with deep ties to the Crypto Crime Cartel.

While Próspera has warmed up to the BTC cartel, the rest of Honduras hasn’t, despite its Central American neighbor El Salvador also granting BTC the legal tender status to disastrous results.

Follow CoinGeek’s Crypto Crime Cartel series, which delves into the stream of groups—from BitMEX to Binance, Bitcoin.com, Blockstream, ShapeShift, Coinbase, Ripple, Ethereum, FTX and Tether—who have co-opted the digital asset revolution and turned the industry into a minefield for naïve (and even experienced) players in the market.