The value of the popular digital currency Bitcoin has been touching new highs almost every day now. In a recent development, Bitcoin could soon become a legal tender in a Central American country, El Salvador. Yes! El Salvador’s President is looking to introduce legislation in their Congress to make Bitcoin a legal tender in the country, alongside the U.S. dollar.
The passage of the legislation will make El Salvador the world’s first sovereign nation to formally accept cryptocurrency as legal money. According to the President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, this move could allow the financial inclusion of thousands of people who are outside the legal economy and will also help the country generate more jobs.
In a recorded message played at a Bitcoin conference in Miami, Bukele said, “I will send to Congress a bill that makes Bitcoin legal money in the country.” He further in a tweet message added that the cryptocurrency could also be “the fastest-growing way” to transfer remittances as it will make it easier for Salvadorans living abroad to send payments home.
It is also believed that if the legislation gets passed, the move would open up financial services as El Salvador is largely a cash economy, and about 70 percent of people do not have bank accounts or credit cards. More than 20 percent of the country’s gross domestic product depends on remittances, or the money sent home by migrants.
It is also important to note that this isn’t El Salvador’s first move into Bitcoin. In March, Strike launched its mobile payments app there, and it quickly became the number one downloaded app in the country.