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El Salvador plans to make bitcoin a legal tender 

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El Salvador President Nayid Bukele plans to propose a bill that would make bitcoin a legal tender in the country. 

Legal tender is something that is acknowledged by the law as an official mechanism for payment, such as the bills and coins printed by the central banks. 

If President Bukele becomes successful with his plan, El Salvador will become the first nation in Central America to recognize bitcoin as an official national currency. 

Advantages of a bitcoin country

According to the President, making Bitcoin as legal tender would “allow the financial inclusion of thousands of people who are outside the legal economy.” 

Bukele also added that the proposal is also aimed to create more jobs and flexible financial solutions for a country where 70% of the population does not have a bank account. 

The proposal is also meant to pull out, or at least, not make its economy’s growth too dependent on overseas remittance, which comprises 22% of the country’s GDP. 

Remittance plays a big part in its economy that, in 2020, a total of almost $6 billion were remitted to the country. 

On its way to congress

Bukele said that next week, he would be sending a bill to Congress that would propose to make bitcoin an official legal tender of the country. 

He made this announcement through a video message at “Bitcoin 2021,” the world’s biggest bitcoin event, which was held in Miami, Florida. 

The government is yet to provide details of the bill, but the legislation is expected to face little to no opposition at all since the parliament is dominated by Bukele’s allies. 

Bukele is optimistic that the bill, once approved, will make a big change in El Salvador. 

“Thanks to the use of Bitcoin, the amount received by more than a million low-income families increases by several billion dollars every year,” Bukele said.

Image courtesy of Cointelegraph News/YouTube

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Source: https://bitcoinerx.com/blockchain/el-salvador-plans-to-make-bitcoin-a-legal-tender/

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