Bitcoin has reached the legal tender stage where countries have started to show interest in adding BTC to their state treasury and El Salvador became the first state to do so. The president of the country Nayib Bukele took to Twitter to announce the news and even revealed that citizens won’t have to pay any capital gain tax on Bitcoin since it is a legal tender now.  The president also changed his Twitter profile picture to include laser eyes, a popular ongoing meme trend for Bitcoiners.

#Bitcoin has a market cap of $680 billion dollars.

If 1% of it is invested in El Salvador, that would increase our GDP by 25%.

On the other side, #Bitcoin will have 10 million potential new users and the fastest growing way to transfer 6 billion dollars a year in remittances.

— Nayib Bukele 🇸🇻 (@nayibbukele) June 6, 2021

Just a day after the announcement made by El Salvador President, another country has hinted at joining the Bitcoin league in the form of Paraguay. A politician from the country also changed his profile photo to include laser eyes and revealed a big announcement is coming this week hinting at a possible Bitcoin adoption as a legal tender.

Como ya lo decía hace un buen tiempo, nuestro país necesita avanzar de la mano de la nueva generación.
Llegó el momento, nuestro momento.
Esta semana empezamos con un proyecto importante para innovar a Paraguay frente al mundo!

El verdadero to the moon 🚀#btc & #paypal pic.twitter.com/ZMRJgAIxgO

— Carlitos Rejala 🙏🇵🇾🙌 (@carlitosrejala) June 7, 2021

Why Countries Are Turning to Bitcoin Now?

The 2017 bull run was majorly carried by retail investors as institutions watched from the sideline, not sure if BTC is just another internet bubble or something that people would invest in. 2021 bull run has proven that Bitcoin is a real store of value and here to stays. Realizing this, Institutions were quick to jump on the Bitcoin bandwagon, followed by publically listed fortune 500 companies adding Bitcoin to their treasury.

Now countries such as El Salvador and Paraguay have come to realize that Bitcoin offers censorship-resistant money that would not only help them see their county’s GDP growth.

El Salvador could play a similar role to Microstrategy and start a domino effect for other countries to join in on the Bitcoin bandwagon. The primary reason for these countries to turn to Bitcoin is the depleting value of the US Dollar, which might not be a big issue for the likes of the US in the short term as they can print as much as they need, but many other small nations suffer dearly.

El Salvador’s president explained Bitcoin would prove to be a boon for the country as a legal tender as it offers financial inclusiveness and the fact that 70% of the country’s population is unbanked. He explained,

70% of El Salvador’s population doesn’t have a bank account and works in the informal economy.

Financial inclusion is not only a moral imperative but also a way to grow the country’s economy, providing access to credit, savings, investment, and secure transactions.

About Author

An engineering graduate, Prashant focuses on UK and Indian markets. As a crypto-journalist, his interests lie in blockchain technology adoption across emerging economies.