Bitcoin to Become Legal Tender in El Salvador on September 7, President Nayib Bukele Says Use Will Be Optional

El Salvador is the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.

By Reuters | Updated: 25 June 2021 10:09 IST

Bitcoin to Become Legal Tender in El Salvador on September 7, President Nayib Bukele Says Use Will Be Optional

El Salvador's Congress already approved Bukele's proposal to embrace the cryptocurrency

Highlights

Salaries and pensions will continue to be paid in US dollars
Athena Bitcoin plans install some 1,500 cryptocurrency ATM in El Salvador
El Salvador relies heavily on money sent back from workers abroad

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele said in a national address on Thursday that a recently passed law making Bitcoin legal tender will take effect on Sepember 7, noting that its use will be optional.

El Salvador's Congress already approved Bukele's proposal to embrace the cryptocurrency, making El Salvador the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. Bitcoin price in India stood at Rs. 25.8 lakhs as of 10am IST on June 25.

"The use of Bitcoin will be optional, nobody will receive Bitcoin if they don't want it... If someone receives a payment in Bitcoin they can choose to automatically receive it in dollars," said Bukele.

[Sponsored] Samsung Galaxy S24: The Ultimate Camera Phone With Smarter On-Device AI

Salaries and pensions will continue to be paid in US dollars, said Bukele, without specifying if that included salaries paid to state workers and private sector employees.

Earlier in the day Athena Bitcoin said it plans to invest over $1 million (roughly Rs. 7.4 crores) to install some 1,500 cryptocurrency ATMs in El Salvador, especially where residents receive remittances from abroad.

According to Athena Bitcoin's website, the ATMs can be used to buy Bitcoins or sell them for cash.

Bitcoin Legalised in El Salvador: IMF Sees Legal, Economic Issues

"One of the reasons we passed the Bitcoin law is precisely to help people who send remittances," said Bukele, adding the high costs of commissions traditionally associated with sending money home would be eliminated by using the cryptocurrency.

El Salvador relies heavily on money sent back from workers abroad. World Bank data showed remittances to the country made up nearly $6 billion (roughly Rs. 44,480 crores) or around a fifth of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2019, one of the highest ratios in the world.

Less than 1 percent of the volume of global cross-border remittances are currently in cryptocurrency, according to Kenneth Suchoski, US payments and fintech analyst at Autonomous Research. But in the future crypto is expected to account for a larger slice of the more than $500 billion (roughly Rs. 37,06,925 crores) in global annual remittances.

Interested in cryptocurrency? We discuss all things crypto with WazirX CEO Nischal Shetty and WeekendInvesting founder Alok Jain on Orbital, the Gadgets 360 podcast. Orbital is available on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music and wherever you get your podcasts.

Affiliate links may be automatically generated - see our ethics statement for details.

Cryptocurrency Prices across Indian exchanges

Comments

For the latest tech news and reviews, follow Gadgets 360 on X, Facebook, WhatsApp, Threads and Google News. For the latest videos on gadgets and tech, subscribe to our YouTube channel. If you want to know everything about top influencers, follow our in-house Who'sThat360 on Instagram and YouTube.