Bitcoin is Now Officially Accepted as Legal Tender in El Salvador
Bitcoin plunges same day cryptocurrency becomes legal tender in El Salvador
The worldwide acceptance of Bitcoin seems to be increasing, as El Salvador becomes the first country to accept the cryptocurrency as legal tender. Back in June, El Salvador passed new legislation that just went into effect recently.
Bitcoin in El Salvador
According to Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, this is a historic moment. According to the new legislation in El Salvador, Bitcoin will be equal to the fiat currency in the country. This means that residents in the country will be able to make use of Bitcoin for payments instead of cash.
Various businesses throughout El Salvador will also start accepting the currency. This would make it incredibly easy for people, as citizens can now pay on the go using Bitcoin rather than having to carry a balance in their debit cards or cash at hand.
But of course, to accept Bitcoin, businesses must have the required technology. Along with that, Nayib Bukele also Tweeted that a total of 400 bitcoins have been purchased by El Salvador so far. This would roughly be equivalent to $20.3 million (USD) at the time of this writing.
There are many reasons why El Salvador has decided to accept the crypto coin. One implication would be that Bitcoin will make it easier for citizens of the country who live abroad to send home remittances, that too, for a much lower cost.
However, the only concern here is the volatility of Bitcoin, which could cause problems for those holding it. That is because the price of Bitcoin is known to fall or rise sharply, sometimes within hours or several minutes.
Nevertheless, this move by El Salvador is certainly a notable one. However, this would also mean that the fate of people gets tied increasingly to the Bitcoin price. Regular people who may or may not know how cryptocurrency works could be at a major disadvantage. Hence, this may also call for spreading awareness regarding the basic principles of cryptocurrency among the public.
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