Paraguay has built Latin America’s first third-generation sovereign blockchain. Its Director explains why Legaledger could change the regional game.
Ricardo Prieto is Director, official spokesperson, and Secretary of the Paraguayan Blockchain Chamber, and one of the leading figures in the blockchain ecosystem in his country. Since the organization’s founding in 2024, he has led coordination between the state, the private sector, and academia to bring Legaledger to life—a sovereign blockchain network designed to provide legal certainty and technological autonomy to the country. We spoke with him about the current status of the project, its unique architecture, and the remarkable impact it could have across the region.
ORIGIN
Frecuencia Money: How was the Paraguayan Blockchain Chamber created?
Ricardo Prieto: It emerged from a specific event in 2023 and was officially founded on February 13, 2024. The original concept of the Sovereign Blockchain was designed by a private company; eventually, 26 additional companies and professionals from different fields joined. The developing company donated the network design to the organization, which now has the mission of delivering it to the country through the implementation of a regulatory sandbox and the MainNet by 2027.
Frecuencia Money: What is the Chamber’s governance model?
Ricardo Prieto: It is a non-profit organization with legal status, governed by a Board of Directors elected annually. It interacts constantly with the state, companies, and universities to address market needs through its committees, contributing innovation and clear rules to build a secure and reliable blockchain ecosystem.
SOVEREIGN NETWORK
Frecuencia Money: Legaledger is described as the first third-generation blockchain network with national sovereignty. What does “sovereignty” mean in this context?
Ricardo Prieto: Sovereignty is not just a political concept; it is a technical and legal specification that fundamentally differentiates it from public-open blockchains and traditional regional networks.
A sovereign blockchain is built on four concrete pillars.
First, infrastructure independence: its validator nodes are physically located and operated in Paraguay, under the control of local institutions—government, private sector, academia, and cooperatives—unlike networks such as Ethereum that rely on external communities.
Second, governance and legal jurisdiction: it is designed under Paraguay’s Law 6822/21 on Trust Services, granting functional equivalence and evidentiary value in courts.
Third, cost autonomy with Zero Gas: by not using cryptocurrencies, it eliminates volatility and allows the state and companies to plan finances without depending on crypto asset prices.
Fourth, national data security: as a public-permissioned network, sensitive data is not exposed to external entities.
“LEGALEDGER’S SOVEREIGNTY IS NOT JUST A POLITICAL CONCEPT. IT IS A TECHNICAL AND LEGAL SPECIFICATION THAT SETS IT APART FROM ANY OTHER NETWORK IN THE WORLD.”
Frecuencia Money: Why did you choose Hyperledger as the foundation?
Ricardo Prieto: The choice of Hyperledger—specifically Fabric and Besu—was a technical necessity. These frameworks meet corporate, governmental, and compliance standards. As a Linux Foundation project, it provides a neutral and robust environment.
Frecuencia Money: The network has a dual mechanism. What advantages does this hybrid architecture offer?
Ricardo Prieto: Legaledger is the first blockchain infrastructure to operate with two synchronized engines—something never designed before. It’s an advanced engineering decision to create two differentiated layers: the Legal Layer (Fabric) and the Business Layer (Besu). This structure allows the separation of possession and ownership attributes, which is essential for securely tokenizing real-world assets—real estate, carbon credits, financial securities—preventing manipulation and protecting assets against fraud.
Frecuencia Money: How does the network operate without “gas” fees?
Ricardo Prieto: This is its most disruptive innovation. While public-open networks use gas to pay miners and prevent spam, Legaledger uses an Institutional and Cooperative Sustainability Model. Members and validators—banks, universities, public entities—assume the operational cost of their own nodes. Each node represents a business model in itself, distributing operational costs through cross-validation among all participants.
ADOPTION
Frecuencia Money: Is Paraguay’s financial industry leveraging this development?
Ricardo Prieto: Yes, the sector is preparing thanks to two model laws. Law 6822/21 on Trust Services legally validates documents and signatures on blockchain. Law 7572/25 on Securities Markets and Tokenizable Products enables the digitization of real-world assets (RWA). The Central Bank of Paraguay is already working on regulations for the use of DLT/blockchain technology.
REGULATION
Frecuencia Money: What is holding back mass adoption of these technologies?
Ricardo Prieto: There are two global barriers: legal uncertainty and cost volatility. Paraguay addresses both directly. In terms of legal certainty, the law already requires the judicial system to accept digital evidence; we don’t expect technology to “convince” judges—it is already regulated. In terms of costs, by removing dependence on external markets and cryptocurrencies, transactions can be offered at a fixed zero cost.
“THE LAW ALREADY REQUIRES THE PARAGUAYAN JUDICIAL SYSTEM TO ACCEPT DIGITAL EVIDENCE. WE DO NOT EXPECT TECHNOLOGY TO CONVINCE JUDGES: IT IS ALREADY REGULATED.”
Frecuencia Money: Paraguay aims to become an International Digital Jurisdiction. What does that mean?
Ricardo Prieto: It means the country becomes a “secure digital port” where companies can tokenize and operate assets with underlying legal certainty. Specifically, a token created on this sovereign network retains its legal validity even if it is traded on other networks—such as EVM-compatible ones—anywhere in the world.
GLOBAL VALIDATION AND USE CASES
Frecuencia Money: The ISO Technical Committee visited Paraguay. What was the outcome?
Ricardo Prieto: The visit by José Costa (Portugal) in March 2026 established Paraguay as a credible interlocutor proposing the creation of global standards based on sovereign blockchain. Legaledger being included as a use case in the ISO TR 24878.2 report positions the country as a benchmark in digital legal certainty and will allow institutions such as the IDB, CAF, or the World Bank to promote this technology for long-awaited regional integration and interoperability.
Frecuencia Money: What are the most notable use cases currently in development?
Ricardo Prieto: There are four that illustrate the project’s scope.
The Electronic Promissory Note eliminates physical paper, facilitates access to liquidity with legal certainty, and prevents forgery.
The SIGNO Platform is a solution for notaries that digitizes public faith, reducing processing times and eliminating document alteration risks.
RWA Tokenization enables fractional investment in real estate and all types of assets, targeting both retail and institutional investors.
And PYG Digital—the tokenized Guaraní—which is not a cryptocurrency but a digital representation of the currency used to execute automated smart contracts, such as payments triggered upon grain delivery at ports.
THE TRANSFORMATION AHEAD
Frecuencia Money: What stage is Legaledger currently in, and what is the roadmap?
Ricardo Prieto: The project is progressing through four phases.
Phase 1 involved the deployment of the Alpha Lab and legal analysis.
Phase 2 (2026) is the rollout of the regulatory sandbox, about to begin.
Phase 3 (early 2027) includes the presentation of approved solutions.
Phase 4 (mid-2027) is the deployment of the TestNet and MainNet networks.
Frecuencia Money: How do you envision the impact of sovereign blockchain on people’s daily lives?
Ricardo Prieto: I envision a world where bureaucracy becomes an invisible process. A person in a rural area will be able to access credit using tokenized livestock as collateral, fully backed by a sovereign network. Technology will stop being a privilege of large institutions and become a real tool for inclusion.
“WE ARE MOVING FROM THE INTERNET OF INFORMATION TO THE INTERNET OF VALUE. A PERSON IN A RURAL AREA WILL BE ABLE TO ACCESS CREDIT USING TOKENIZED LIVESTOCK AS COLLATERAL.”
KEY DATA
- February 13, 2024: Official founding of the Paraguayan Blockchain Chamber
- 26 companies and professionals formed the organization from the start
- 2 framework laws: Law 6822/21 (Trust Services) and Law 7572/25 (RWA)
- 2027: Expected launch year for Legaledger’s MainNet
- ISO TR 24878.2: International report where Legaledger is featured as a use case