Mexico's Crypto Stance Unlikely to Change as Ruling Morena Party's Claudia Sheinbaum Elected President

Claudia Sheinbaum is the first woman to be elected the president of Mexico.
Sheinbaum's party has not proposed a comprehensive policy for crypto, but has imposed a 20% tax on crypto gains and reflected a focus on regulating blockchain.

Mexico City’s former mayor, Claudia Sheinbaum, was elected president of Mexico to become the first woman to hold that position, according to multiple reports including The New York Times.

The result signals the probable continuation of Mexico's crypto policy because Sheinbaum is from the ruling Morena party. Her predecessor, Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador, could not run again under the constitution. Sheinbaum has aligned herself with Obrador's policies, though there was little to no mention of crypto in Mexico's biggest election to date.

The Morena party has not proposed any comprehensive legislation for the crypto sector, though it has imposed a 20% tax on crypto gains. Other policies and regulations require cryptocurrency exchanges to be registered under global requirements for anti-money laundering and terror financing. The party has also reflected a focus on regulating blockchain to make the technology and ecosystem more secure.

It's too early to say whether recent crypto-related developments in the U.S., which happened as Mexico's election campaigns unfolded, will encourage the Morena party to reconsider its keep-it-in-the-shadows stand on crypto policy. Mexico is the largest market for remittances from the U.S., making crypto a potential option for Mexicans.

In the past few weeks, a major crypto bill has cleared one of the chambers of the U.S. Congress for the first time; former President Donald Trump – the presumptive Republican presidential election nominee – not only started accepting donations in crypto, but also said that the U.S. must be the global leader in crypto; and President Biden's re-election campaign has reportedly begun reaching out to crypto industry participants for guidance on crypto community and policy.‘ The Securities and Exchange Commission is also expected to greenlight the launch of spot ether exchange-traded funds.

Sheinbaum has said she's confident of having a good relationship with whoever comes to power in 2024.

Edited by Sheldon Reback.

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