Bitcoin will continue to be legal tender in El Salvador during President Nayib Bukele's second term, El Salvador's vice president said in a statement.
El Salvador Will Stay Committed to Bitcoin After the Election
Days before the elections, which Bukele is expected to win thanks to the harsh crackdown on gangs, Felix Ulloa, who went on temporary leave to run for re-election together with Bukele, reiterated that the Central American country accepts cryptocurrency as legal tender.
Ulloa said the statement came after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) asked El Salvador to “reconsider” this measure during billion-dollar loan negotiations.
Ulloa said the government has no intention of reversing the decision, adding that the US Securities and Exchange Commission's (SEC) announcement that it will allow US-listed exchange-traded funds (ETFs) tracking Bitcoin has strengthened their resolve.
With a decade-long history, ETFs are considered a game-changer for Bitcoin by offering investors access to the world's largest cryptocurrency without directly holding tokens. ETFs also provide a major boost to a crypto industry beset by scandals.
“Not only will the law be upheld,” Ulloa said in an interview.
Ulloa said that if Bukele and his New Ideas party win Sunday's elections as the vast majority of polls predict, the Salvadoran government will move forward with plans to launch Bitcoin-backed bonds in the first quarter of 2024.
He said construction of Bitcoin City, a tax-free crypto haven proposed by Bukele in the east of the country, and the issuance of passports to investors who contribute the equivalent of $1 million in cryptocurrency would also continue.
*This is not investment advice.
