Is crypto legal in Panama?
Yes: no Panamanian law bans holding or trading crypto, but none regulates it either, and the only crypto law Panama tried to pass was struck down in 2023. Bills to create a regime are pending.
LexLatin, interviewing a tax manager at EY Panama on 14 May 2026, reports that no rule prohibits these activities and that Panama has no specific licensing regime or defined supervision for virtual asset service providers. Panama was assessed against the 2012 FATF Recommendations, which did not name those providers expressly.
The 2022 attempt was bill 697 of 2021 on the marketing and use of crypto-assets. The Assembly approved it in third debate in April 2022: it would let citizens and organisations agree to use crypto-assets as payment for any civil or commercial activity, allow taxes to be paid in them and cover tokenised assets. According to La Prensa (16 July 2023), President Laurentino Cortizo vetoed it in June 2022 because it had to fit the rules of the financial system and the monetary model. The Assembly revised it, the Executive objected to 50 of its 67 articles, and on 6 June 2023 the Supreme Court plenary declared the whole bill unconstitutional on form: the Assembly had changed provisions the Executive had not objected to, which denied it the chance to respond. One magistrate dissented.
Two bills are pending. Bill 247, filed in March 2025 by alternate deputy Gabriel Solís and admitted in April 2025 by the Commerce and Economic Affairs Commission, would regulate the use, sale and supervision of crypto-assets under a special tax regime run by the DGI. A May 2025 opinion column in La Estrella describes it as creating a national digital asset council and digital economic zones with tax exemptions. Draft law 314, filed on 13 January 2026 as the Comprehensive Fintech Framework Law, would bring crypto-assets, stablecoins and NFTs under a wider supervisory framework. We found no report of a vote on either.
Pressure to act comes from abroad. The Ministry of Economy and Finance said on 19 August 2026 that the fifth round of mutual evaluations will put more emphasis on virtual assets. A report of 24 August 2026 says Panama will be evaluated in August 2027, that an inter-agency technical group is studying the issue, and that finance minister Felipe Chapman called regulating it a debt Panama owes. We read that report through an aggregator, not La Estrella itself.
Panama City has its own crypto step. Mayor Mayer Mizrachi announced a plan, which La Prensa described on 17 April 2025, to let taxpayers pay municipal taxes in bitcoin, ether, USDT or USDC through Towerbank and its trust company Towertrust, which convert to dollars so the municipality never holds crypto. The article said it would be activated soon; we could not confirm that it is live.
Which crypto exchanges work in Panama?
All 14 exchanges we track serve Panamanian residents, 13 of them in full. Panama licenses none of them, because it has no register for crypto firms.
There is no Panamanian crypto licence, so the licence column other country guides carry has nothing to show. The SMV, the securities regulator, said in Opinion 04-2025 (file created on 8 September 2025) that a Panamanian firm’s non-custodial wallet and exchange-connection model falls outside the securities law and needs no licence, registration or special requirements from it. It is a reply to one firm, not a general rule. Per LexLatin, the lack of any register also makes it hard for providers to show clients and banks that an authority supervises them, which complicates opening bank accounts.
Two platforms have a Panamanian link that is not a licence. Jupiter is run by Block Raccoon S.A., a Panamanian company, and its terms are governed by Panamanian law. The Gate user agreement is also governed by Panamanian law, with disputes settled by arbitration seated in Panama; we found no Panamanian licence for Gate.
Best crypto platforms for Panamanian residents
Seven exchanges tie at 8 out of 10: Binance, Bitfinex, Bitget, Bybit, HTX, KuCoin and OKX are open to Panamanians and loaded in our test. No platform earns licence points, because Panama has no register.
The score rates how fully a Panamanian resident can use each platform, not its fees or safety. It is computed from our data and moves when a row changes: access status (4 points), the share of the platform’s products open here (3), the licences we hold on file for Panama (2, so none can earn them) and what our geo-access test saw from a Panamanian address (1). The full method is on our methodology page.
Exchanges
Binance
Best for The widest range of markets
8.0/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 1/1
Read our Binance reportPros
- Panama is not on its prohibited-countries list
- Its pages loaded in our test
Cons
- No Panamanian licence exists to check it against
Bitfinex
Best for Spot and margin for experienced traders
8.0/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 1/1
Read our Bitfinex reportPros
- Panama is not a prohibited jurisdiction in its terms
- Its pages loaded in our test
Cons
- No Panamanian licence exists to check it against
Bitget
Best for Spot and derivatives in one account
8.0/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 1/1
Read our Bitget reportPros
- Panama is not on its prohibited-countries list (updated 16 October 2026)
- Its pages loaded in our test
Cons
- Its list of prohibited countries is non-exhaustive
Bybit
Best for Spot and derivatives in one account
8.0/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 1/1
Read our Bybit reportPros
- Panama is not on its excluded-jurisdictions list
- Its pages loaded in our test
Cons
- No Panamanian licence exists to check it against
HTX
Best for Spot and derivatives in one account
8.0/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 1/1
Read our HTX reportPros
- Panama is not on the restricted lists in its user agreement
- Its pages loaded in our test
Cons
- Its list is non-exclusive
KuCoin
Best for A wide range of listed tokens
8.0/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 1/1
Read our KuCoin reportPros
- Panama is not on its restricted-locations list (updated 29 September 2026)
- Its pages loaded in our test
Cons
- Its list may be updated from time to time
OKX
Best for A global brand with a wide product range
8.0/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 1/1
Read our OKX reportPros
- Panama is not on its restricted-locations list (updated 8 July 2026)
- Its pages loaded in our test
Cons
- No Panamanian licence exists to check it against
Bitstamp
Best for Plain spot trading
7.5/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 0.5/1
Read our Bitstamp reportPros
- No Bitstamp document excludes Panama
Cons
- Not covered by our geo-access test
Coinbase
Best for A familiar US exchange for spot buying
7.5/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 0.5/1
Read our Coinbase reportPros
- Panama is a listed sign-up country in its identity-verification guide
Cons
- Not covered by our geo-access test
Crypto.com
Best for Trading in an app
7.5/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 0.5/1
Read our Crypto.com reportPros
- Panama is not on its app or spot geo-restriction lists
Cons
- Not covered by our geo-access test
Kraken
Best for Plain spot trading
7.5/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 0.5/1
Read our Kraken reportPros
- Panama is not on its do-not-serve list
Cons
- Not covered by our geo-access test
Gate
Best for A wide range of listed tokens
7.0/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 0/1
Read our Gate reportPros
- Panama is not named in its restricted-locations clause
- Its user agreement is governed by Panamanian law
Cons
- Its list is non-exhaustive
- Our test refusal read as a US one, so it is inconclusive
MEXC
Best for A wide range of listed tokens
7.0/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 0/1
Read our MEXC reportPros
- Panama is not on its prohibited-jurisdictions list (updated 13 October 2026)
Cons
- Its list is non-exclusive
- Our test refusal read as a US one, so it is inconclusive
Gemini
Best for Plain spot trading
5.9/10- Access
- 3.5/4
- Products
- 1.9/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 0.5/1
Read our Gemini reportPros
- Panama is on its supported-country list for spot
Cons
- No derivatives: Panama is not on its perpetuals list
- Not covered by our geo-access test
Prediction markets
Kalshi
Best for Regulated event contracts
7.5/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 0.5/1
Read our Kalshi reportPros
- Panama is not on its restricted-jurisdictions list
Cons
- No Panamanian rule names prediction markets
- Not covered by our geo-access test
Polymarket
Best for The largest prediction market
7.5/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 0.5/1
Read our Polymarket reportPros
- Panama is not on its blocked-countries list
Cons
- No Panamanian rule names prediction markets
- Not covered by our geo-access test
DeFi
Aster
Best for Perpetuals from your own wallet
8.0/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 1/1
Read our Aster reportPros
- Panama is not on its prohibited-jurisdictions list
- Its trading app loaded in our test
Cons
- No funding in dollars: you need crypto from another source
Hyperliquid
Best for Perpetuals and spot on its own chain
8.0/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 1/1
Read our Hyperliquid reportPros
- Not excluded by its terms
- Its trading app loaded in our test
Cons
- No funding in dollars: you need crypto from another source
Lighter
Best for Perpetuals from your own wallet
8.0/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 1/1
Read our Lighter reportPros
- Panama is not named in its terms
- Its trading app loaded in our test
Cons
- No funding in dollars: you need crypto from another source
Jupiter
Best for Solana swaps
7.5/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 0.5/1
Read our Jupiter reportPros
- Panama is not named in its terms
- Its operator, Block Raccoon S.A., is a Panamanian company
Cons
- No funding in dollars: you need crypto from another source
- Not covered by our geo-access test
PancakeSwap
Best for BNB Chain swaps and pools
7.5/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 0.5/1
Read our PancakeSwap reportPros
- Not excluded by its terms
Cons
- No funding in dollars: you need crypto from another source
- Not covered by our geo-access test
Uniswap
Best for Swapping tokens from your own wallet
7.5/10- Access
- 4/4
- Products
- 3/3
- Licences
- 0/2
- Our test
- 0.5/1
Read our Uniswap reportPros
- Its terms bar only places under comprehensive US sanctions
Cons
- No funding in dollars: you need crypto from another source
- Not covered by our geo-access test
Which platforms block Panamanian users?
None of the 22 platforms we track refuses Panamanian residents. One, Gemini, is limited: it serves Panama for spot trading but offers no perpetuals.
Panamanian law gives a platform no reason to close the country, since individuals may hold and trade crypto. Several exclusion lists are non-exhaustive, so an absence is not a guarantee, and most platforms enforce at identity verification, not at the page.
What our geo-access test saw from Panama
From a Panamanian virtual location on 14 and 16 October 2026, 10 of the 12 platforms we tested loaded with no barrier. Gate and MEXC refused us, but we set both results aside; the other 10 platforms were not tested.
The 10 that opened were Aster, Binance, Bitfinex, Bitget, Bybit, HTX, Hyperliquid, KuCoin, Lighter and OKX. Gate and MEXC refused the same address in exactly the way each refuses a visitor from the United States, and our scan notes record that the virtual addresses we used for Panama, Guatemala and Honduras can be read as US ones, so we do not count either refusal as a Panamanian block. A virtual location, an address registered to the country but served elsewhere, tests a platform’s own geo-blocking only, and an open page is not permission: the test cannot see identity checks or blocks by internet providers. We hold no screenshots from Panama, so there is no gallery.
Who regulates crypto in Panama?
No regulator licenses crypto firms. The securities regulator SMV says its law does not cover crypto-assets, the financial intelligence unit UAF supervises anti-money-laundering duties, and the Gaming Control Board JCJ oversees betting.
- SMV. The Superintendencia del Mercado de Valores keeps its remit to securities. Its Opinion 04-2025, described in the exchanges section, says a non-custodial wallet and exchange-connection model needs no SMV licence or registration.
- UAF. The Unidad de Análisis Financiero supervises the anti-money-laundering duties of virtual asset service providers, per LexLatin, but with no licence or register that supervision has no formal regime to rest on. We found no UAF page confirming the arrangement.
- SBP. The Superintendencia de Bancos supervises banks, which matters here because Towerbank, a bank, is the route for the Panama City tax payments. We found no SBP rule for crypto firms.
- JCJ. The Junta de Control de Juegos is covered in the prediction markets section.
- CARF. LexLatin reports that Panama signed the OECD’s crypto-asset reporting agreement on 2 December 2025 and that, per EY Panama, domestic law has yet to adopt the framework.
Are prediction markets legal in Panama?
No Panamanian rule names them. A new gambling law lets the Gaming Control Board block unlicensed betting sites, and we found no official statement on whether event contracts count as betting.
La Estrella reported on 31 May 2026 that Law 527, dated 23 May 2026 and published in the Gaceta Oficial on 28 May, lets the Junta de Control de Juegos order the blocking, suspension or restriction of websites, apps, domains and IP addresses tied to betting or gambling without a valid Panamanian licence. Telecom and internet providers must comply at once, and firms that ignore a blocking order face fines of up to B/.1,000,000. Operators that break the prevention rules face fines of B/.25,000 to B/.100,000, and the Executive has up to six months to write the regulations. We read the report, not the Gaceta text, and it does not mention prediction markets or crypto.
Whether an event contract on an election or a price counts as a bet under that wording is our reading, not a ruling: no regulator statement or court decision we found says so. Polymarket and Kalshi are open to Panamanians on their own lists, and we found no action against either.
How is crypto taxed in Panama?
Panama taxes only income produced inside the country, and we found no tax authority guidance on crypto. Individuals pay 0% up to B/.11,000 of net income, 15% up to B/.50,000 and 25% above.
Article 694 of the Código Fiscal, in the compiled text on Justia, puts income tax on taxable income produced inside Panama, wherever it is received, and its second paragraph lists income that does not count as Panamanian, such as dividends paid out of income not produced in Panama. We read the compiled text, not the Gaceta Oficial, so check the current wording. The DGI table for individuals sets 0% up to B/.11,000, 15% on the excess up to B/.50,000, and B/.5,850 plus 25% of the excess above that; the page shows no tax year, and the balboa is at par with the US dollar.
Article 701 taxes gains on selling bonds, shares, participation quotas and other movable goods, and crypto is not named in it. Whether it reaches crypto, and whether a gain on a foreign exchange counts as produced in Panama, are open questions: LexLatin’s EY source says Panama has no crypto-specific rules, and we found no DGI ruling, form or guidance on crypto gains, mining or pay in crypto. We also found no source on how the 7% sales tax applies.
On reporting, LexLatin says Panama signed the crypto-asset reporting agreement on 2 December 2025 but that no domestic rule adopts the framework yet, so we cannot give a date from which exchanges must report.
Costa Rica
Mexico
El Salvador
Dominican Republic
Puerto Rico
Canada
Bermuda
British Virgin Islands
Cayman Islands
Jamaica
Saint Lucia