Bitcoin might soon be a legal tender in El Salvador, as the President’s bill did pass Congress with a supermajority. In a conversation taking place in Twitter Spaces, President Nayib Bukele stated that he would be signing the historic law later today or tomorrow. Further, he mentioned that the law would be going into effect pronto. This implies that the government would be allowing around 90 days to put the infrastructure in place.
Bitcoin In El Salvador- A Historic Step
The President has been quite a vocal supporter of Bitcoin. He mentioned that cryptocurrency would be accepted for all businesses. As for the merchants in the country, they would have to take it. It was the deal for every country- you move to the USA, you need to pick up the USD. For El Salvador, BTC will be the legal tender, rather than the USD or peso.
He further revealed that the cabinet would have a meeting with the IMF on Thursday. This ensures that the government would also be putting out its new and official BTC wallet. There is an implication that the government would be holding on to BTC worth $150 million in its trust fund for the development bank- thereby assuming the risk of the merchants.
As an incentive, the President has come up with the idea that anyone investing around 3 BTC in the country would be offered permanent residency. As for putting a few cryptocurrency tokens in its reserve, he stated that they didn’t have any plans on that front just yet.
Also, while the head of the government hadn’t really given a thought to Bitcoin mining in the country, he wouldn’t be averse to the idea of pushing for Bitcoin mining at a renewable energy level. The bill was submitted today after the President tweeted that the law was sent to Congress.
