Cryptocurrency || El Salvador Declares Bitcoin As Its Official Currency

In El Salvador, the digital currency  Bitcoin  will be legal tender from Tuesday. The Central American state is the first country in the world to take this step. A corresponding law was passed three months ago and is now coming into force. It stipulates that every merchant must accept Bitcoin as a means of payment if they are technically able to do so. Taxes can also be paid in the cryptocurrency.

No capital gains tax should be levied on the exchange of Bitcoin. The exchange rate to the US dollar, which is used in El Salvador as an official means of payment instead of a local currency, is to be decided freely by the market. According to President Nayib Bukele, anyone who downloads the Chivo digital wallet receives a starting credit worth 30 US dollars (around 25 euros). There should also be 200 Chivo ATMs.

Read more: A Hacker Steals 600 Million From A Company

Bitcoin is the most popular digital currency . It is not controlled by a central bank, but created by a decentralized and extremely energy-intensive computer process . The cryptocurrency is considered an object of speculation and is subject to violent price fluctuations.

The US dollar has been used as a means of payment in El Salvador since 2001. This makes the country dependent on the monetary policy of the US Federal Reserve. For the nation's economic growth, it is necessary to allow the circulation of a digital currency, the value of which depends solely on market economy criteria, says the text of the law. In addition, around 70 percent of the roughly six million residents of El Salvador have no access to traditional financial services. Many rely on their loved ones to send money in the United States.

Read also: Stolen Cryptocurrency Partially Returned

According to a nationwide survey by the Universidad Centroamericana (UCA) with almost 1,300 participants in August, around 70 percent of Salvadorans reject the Bitcoin law. Around the same number of people had imprecise ideas about Bitcoin: only 4.8 percent of those surveyed correctly defined it as a cryptocurrency.

Do You Know What We Have Posted on

Twitter Facebook Instagram Reddit tumblr