Structuring a crypto business in Panama

Panama has debated crypto regulation for several years without producing a dedicated statute. In 2022 the National Assembly passed Bill 697, which would have regulated the use and trading of crypto-assets, tokenisation and digital payments. The Executive partially vetoed it, and when the Assembly reworked the text beyond the objected articles, the Supreme Court declared it unconstitutional on procedural grounds; the ruling was published in the Official Gazette in August 2023. Crypto trading and use therefore remain outside Panama's financial legislation.

In April 2025 the Commerce and Economic Affairs Commission introduced Draft Bill 247 of 2025, which would regulate the use, commercialisation and supervision of cryptocurrencies and create a National Council of Digital Assets to coordinate the regime. As of early 2026, around seven fintech-related bills had been presented at different stages and none had been enacted. Any bill must pass three debates before going to the Executive for sanction or veto, so timing remains uncertain.

In the absence of a crypto law, regulators assess each business model against the existing perimeter. Tokens with investment characteristics may engage securities legislation supervised by the Superintendency of the Securities Market; fiat transfer services may require authorisation as a money remittance business under Law 48 of 2003; and lending models may fall under Law 42 of 2001 on financial companies. Law 23 of 2015 sets the risk-based AML framework for supervised financial entities, non-financial reporting entities and certain professions.

Panama is therefore best viewed as a corporate and banking base rather than a licensing jurisdiction for crypto. Operators serving regulated markets will typically pair a Panamanian holding or service company with a licence elsewhere, while keeping Panama operations within existing law and monitoring the progress of Bill 247.