Panama City Mayor: The canal prioritizes the passage of Bitcoin merchant ships.

Panama City Mayor Mayer Mizrachi, at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas today (30), made a bold proposal during a panel discussion, saying that Panama should allow Bitcoin-paid ships to pass through the Panama Canal first, skipping the queue. (Synopsis: Panama City announces acceptance of BTC, ETH, USDT for taxes, payment of fines and fees, government adoption of Bitcoin and then +1) (Background added: Who is BlackRock: Stirring up the port of Panama, the king of Wall Street into cryptocurrency. Mayer Mizrachi, mayor of Panama City, the capital of the Central American country of the Republic of Panama, made a bold proposal during a panel discussion at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas today (30), saying that Panama should allow ships paying for bitcoin to pass through the Panama Canal first, skipping the queue. In a conversation with El Salvador's bitcoin policy leaders, Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert, he said: "We have a canal, what if you pay with bitcoin to get a discount and let your ship pass faster? The Panama Canal: the lifeblood of global trade and huge revenues The Panama Canal, an artificial waterway connecting the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean, is about 82 kilometers long and crosses the Isthmus of Panama and is an important route for global maritime trade. About 5% of global maritime trade passes through the canal each year, and nearly 10,000 ships moved 423 million tons of cargo in fiscal 2023, underscoring its pivotal position in global supply chains. According to the annual report released by the Panama Canal Authority, in fiscal year 2023, the canal's revenue reached $4.968 billion, an increase of 14.9% over the previous fiscal year. In fiscal year 2022, the canal is expected to pay a record $2.497 billion in taxes to the national treasury, showing its significant contribution to the Panamanian economy. Panama Embraces Cryptocurrencies Panama City has recently shown a positive attitude towards cryptocurrency applications. In April 2025, Mayor Mayer Mizrachi announced on social platform X that the Panama City Council officially voted for a historic decision to allow citizens to use Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), USD stablecoins USDC and USDT to pay taxes, fines and other municipal fees. This measure makes Panama City one of the first cities in the Central American region to fully accept cryptocurrency payments, offering residents and businesses more payment options. In addition, Mayer Mizrachi also urged Panamanian lawmakers to suspend the development of a cryptocurrency regulation bill, advocating a non-intervention regulatory approach. He said at the Bitcoin 2025 conference: Don't touch it, don't go near it, don't even look at it, let it work freely and function. And then decide what it needs. Do you want to limit it, or promote it? Mizrachi claims that there are more than $5 billion in bitcoin transactions in Panama every year, but much of the adoption is happening in the dark because many people are afraid to accept bitcoin publicly. He stressed that the lax regulatory environment helps encourage innovation and makes Panama stand out in global cryptocurrency applications. Related stories Trump's press conference "super crazy remarks" five points: annexation of Canada, takeover of the Panama Canal and Greenland: Zicheng PwC Report|The country with the fastest progress of CBDC is not China's digital yuan, but Panama's "sand money" BlackRock: Bitcoin is not a risk asset, and the positioning of digital gold will become clearer day by day [Panama mayor: The canal gives priority to the passage of merchant ships paying bitcoin] This article was first published in BlockTempo's "Dynamic Trend - The Most Influential Blockchain News Media".