The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, keeps his photo with ‘laser eyes’ on his Twitter account. This sign, a joke in the world of cryptocurrencies that shows support for them, is nothing more than a sign of a government’s commitment to the dissemination of cryptocurrencies, whose latest exponent is to give it the equivalent of 30 dollars. (about 25 euros at the current exchange rate) to each adult citizen who registers in the government application for the exchange of bitcoins.
In this way, Salvadorans who register in the digital wallet called Chivo will receive that amount, a way of encouraging citizens to assume bitcoin as the usual currency of exchange, beyond the US dollar, which will continue to be the official currency of the country as It has been since 2001.
Bukele was that it took place a few weeks ago in Miami, when he announced that his government would recognize this cryptocurrency as legal tender. .
The country’s Executive insists that the market capitalization of bitcoin exceeds 600,000 million dollars, and that adopting the currency represents an opportunity to attract investment, avoid intermediary commissions on remittances that the country receives from abroad -and that accounts for a high percentage of its economy – and to protect itself from inflation.
Bukele has reassured critics and skeptics by stating that bank accounts, as well as salaries and pensions, will continue to be in dollars.
Under the new law, which goes into effect on September 7, consumers can pay businesses with bitcoins from their accounts for items listed in dollars. However, if business owners want to be paid in dollars, they can press a button in the ‘Chivo’ app to immediately convert bitcoins to dollars, according to Bukele.
The government will provide training to businesses on cryptocurrency transactions and will seek to improve internet and mobile phone penetration to encourage the use of cryptocurrency, the president has added. For their part, companies that technologically cannot receive electronic payments will be excluded from the law.
The implementation of this law, however, has not been well received by international organizations and agencies. A few weeks ago, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned of the “significant risks” of adopting the cryptocurrency as legal tender, while the risk rating agency Fitch pointed out that the adoption of bitcoin as currency in the country could increase the risks. regulatory risks for financial institutions, including the possibility of violating laws against money laundering and financing of terrorism.
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