Bitcoin to be Made Legal Tender in El Salvador

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele announced in a recorded message played at a Bitcoin conference in Miami that next week he will send proposed legislation to the country’s congress that would make the cryptocurrency legal tender in the Central American nation.

The 39-year-old president characterized it as an idea that could help El Salvador move forward, AP reports.

– Next week I will send to Congress a bill that will make Bitcoin a legal tender in El Salvador. In the short term this will generate jobs and help provide financial inclusion to thousands outside the formal economy and in the medium and long term we hope that this small decision can help us push humanity at least a tiny bit into the right direction – Bukele said in the message Saturday.

The U.S. dollar is El Salvador’s official currency. About one quarter of El Salvador’s citizens live in the United States and last year, despite the pandemic, they sent home more than USD 6 billion in remittances.

Nayib Bukele

bitcoin

legal tender