El Salvador has become the first country to make #Bitcoin legal tender! 🇸🇻

[BuNga_cute]

El Salvador the Savior!
Okay, let's pack our bags and get ready to go to El Salvador to create new bitcoin-based businesses and let's allow to prosper what could become the first bitcoin-friendly nation state.
I need an office in Miami (thanks Mayor Suarez!) and one in El Salvador!
Huge news, really huge!

What happened in El Salvador and Miami was the first step Bitcoin began to be understood by some state officials, which of course will have a good
impact on the population. Therefore, changes in a country or region, depending on the policies taken by its leadership. Major Suarez and President
Nayib Bukele became state officials who were open-minded and dared to take bold steps, which is not necessarily able to be done by other state officials.
Hopefully there will be more people like them, who care more about their people than their own interests.

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[Lucius]

For example Japan back in 2017 accepted bitcoin as a "currency" which you can use in payments which seems to be the same definition as "legal tender", isn't it?

I think the situation is the same in Germany, at least when it comes to paying taxes in case BTC is used as a means of payment. If memory serves me well, such an attitude also exists in some other countries that understand a little better that excessive taxation and bans are not a good solution.

However, we should congratulate the President of El Salvador, who had the courage to make such a decision, which will certainly not be best received by some countries and people who have a completely different opinion when it comes to Bitcoin. But the essence of sovereignty and democracy is to make decisions in your country no matter what others have advised and thought about it.

[kryptqnick]

I've just read about it in the news, and it's a big step forward. I don't know how this will function in reality in El Salvador, but the sentiment is nice. However, it seems that this country has a lot of big problems like high levels of violent crimes, extremely unfair distribution of wealth with 30% being in poverty, and only about the third of population even having Internet access. These problems cannot be fixed by making Bitcoin legal tender, and I hope Bitcoin won't exacerbate them by becoming the money for the elites.

[o_e_l_e_o]

For example Japan back in 2017 accepted bitcoin as a "currency" which you can use in payments which seems to be the same definition as "legal tender", isn't it?

I think the situation is the same in Germany, at least when it comes to paying taxes in case BTC is used as a means of payment.

There is a difference between "currency" and "legal tender".

A currency is anything which can be used as money, but a merchant is under no obligation to accept. In the US, for example, we recognize Canadian dollars as a currency, but it is not legal tender and you'll be very hard pressed to find anywhere outside a few dozen kilometers of the border which will accept CAD for goods or services. We recognize JPY, EUR, AUD, etc., as currencies, but none of them are legal tender.

Anything which is legal tender must be accepted as payment for goods, services, debt, etc. It is legally recognized by the courts or judicial system in that country. If I pay you in legal tender, then the debt is settled. Even if you refuse my payment, legally speaking I have paid my debt using legal tender and therefore owe you nothing.

Basically this is saying that every merchant, every business, every person, in El Salvador must accept bitcoin for their goods or services.

[Leviathan.007]

Wow I was not expecting to see such news about any country and government because bitcoin came to make everything is payments decentralized and border-less, while the governments are always trying control everything and make everything centralized just the opposite of bitcoin goal. I don't this country and don't know about the the living condition, but, if there is a good living condition mane bitcoiner will be attracted and this this will even help this country economically.

[buwaytress]

I'm afraid as pointed out before, Japan is going to have to take that honours of "first"... years ahead with actual legislation fast track and approved.

o_e_l_e_o is right though, recognizing a currency doesn't make it legal tender, which means anyone is free to accept (and refuse) payment if they so choose -- and in Japan's case, it's actually NOT legal tender. If you want to pay in Bitcoin, the seller doesn't have to accept it if even if he is able to (if he has a Bitcoin wallet, that is).

Reference: Reuters advisory

[blackened515]

What an amazing news that shocked the world,  El salvador is really doing well and I wasn't expecting the president of that country to implement this in the 2021 conference.
Does this implementation means that the adoption of cryptocurrency is coming to reality and it will be starting clearly from now on which will be influence other countries to do the same.
Congrats to the El salvador citizens

[rdbase]

I'm afraid as pointed out before, Japan is going to have to take that honours of "first"... years ahead with actual legislation fast track and approved.
o_e_l_e_o is right though, recognizing a currency doesn't make it legal tender, which means anyone is free to accept (and refuse) payment if they so choose -- and in Japan's case, it's actually NOT legal tender. If you want to pay in Bitcoin, the seller doesn't have to accept it if even if he is able to (if he has a Bitcoin wallet, that is).
Reference: Reuters advisory

Japan does hold the honours of being the first country to truly accept bitcoin as legal tender. Certainly correct in this statement.
But the difference is these people are trying to escape the current financial system to actually live for food and necessary things to survive on and not just to pay for entertainment.

Jack Mallers is one of the people to actually move there and help the unbanked out to get them to know what bitcoin was several years ago.
He comes off as brasive at first but keep watching until the end were he is fully engulfed in the moment where he is brought to tears.
From the 2nd day Bitcoin Conference 2021. Todays the final day of the event in Miami so expect more moving announcements like this one for it's conclusion.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_59hrgTiRJU
It explains alot of what is going on and has an announcement from the president of that country to say what this means to his country and yes, it probably does need congressional approval first but it is a start.

[btc78]

That's how it is! This announcement was left for the end of the 2021 Bitcoin Conference with the participation of Jack Mallers.
Among the most impressive that helped me understand why bitcoin will be the currency that will lead the country of El Salvador is this.

"Over 70% of the active population of El Salvador doesn't have a bank account. They're not in the financial system." -Jack Mallers

https://twitter.com/TheBitcoinConf/status/1401279373223866369?s=19

At the conference the president of El Salvador makes the announcement.

President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele: "Next week I will send to congress a bill that will make #bitcoin a legal tender."

https://twitter.com/BitcoinMagazine/status/1401279550538108933?s=19

I don't know what to say reading this Greatest news i ever read since the 2021 arrived. There are so much fun inside of me and i can't express how grateful it is.

imagine that there is finally a country that will let Bitcoin to become a legal tender , meaning in some part of the world Bitcoin will be their Currency(literally)

Wondering how this will give the El Salvadorian people a best benefits a human can have and that is using Bitcoin even in paying your condom 

thank you El Salvador and Congratulations..

[snipie]

El Salvador the Savior!
Okay, let's pack our bags and get ready to go to El Salvador to create new bitcoin-based businesses and let's allow to prosper what could become the first bitcoin-friendly nation state.
I need an office in Miami (thanks Mayor Suarez!) and one in El Salvador!
Huge news, really huge!

You know, the day of the inauguration of your business will be the day of closure too after being visited by a gang. El Salvador has one of the highest crimes level in the world, instable economy and people taking the way to neighbours countries and to USA mainly. Not my intention to ruin such a good news of course but keeping an online business might work, since I doubt even mining firms could survive with such poor security conditions there.

Thats ironic that a lot of people will hear about this country in the first time after this news

Indeed, I assume the same too unless for people reading much news or from neighbouring countries or maybe the ones loving geography.

[o_e_l_e_o]

Japan does hold the honours of being the first country to truly accept bitcoin as legal tender. Certainly correct in this statement.

That's not correct. Japan recognize bitcoin as legal "property". They do not recognize it as "legal tender". El Salvador is the first in this regard. "Legal tender" has a very specific definition which make the wide reaching implications of this significant, such as the knock on effect on how other countries treat bitcoin. Lots of countries have some kind of definition of money or currency which includes the legal tender of other countries. And as soon as bitcoin is classified as money and no longer as property or an asset or something similar, then it becomes exempt from a wide range of taxes, it becomes far easier to buy and sell, there is far less accountancy headaches or paperwork for large firms and businesses to buy/sell/trade it, and so on.

[dkbit98]

It may sound like a nice idea on paper but don't get to excited about this news and check out this article written by Vlad Costea explaining why adopting Bitcoin may be a bad idea for El Salvador citizens and for bitcoiners worldwide:
https://bitcoin-takeover.com/why-adopting-bitcoin-is-a-bad-idea-for-el-salvador/

[amishmanish]

It may sound like a nice idea on paper but don't get to excited about this news and check out this article written by Vlad Costea explaining why adopting Bitcoin may be a bad idea for El Salvador citizens and for bitcoiners worldwide:
https://bitcoin-takeover.com/why-adopting-bitcoin-is-a-bad-idea-for-el-salvador/

Wow. The author really did a lot of work to be the devil's advocate.

Yet, I think it is important to see the background against which this has happened. Jack Mallers of Strike went and helped spread LN payments as a method for remittances, which are like 20% of their GDP and people get charged a lot for transaction etc.

Most people don't have access to banks and a country that just 3 years ago was fighting mad violence in the streets can't be expected to suddenly put the pedal on financial inclusion. (branches, bank staff, ATMs, getting people onboard). All of that is possible with a mobile wallet in an instant.

So, when the President decided to put his weight behind BTC, he is essentially just declaring the country Bitcoin friendly and even ASKED the bitcoin community to invest in BTC infrastructure (which Blockstream and others have already committed to). This isn't like they are suddenly buying a lot of BTC and will put them in their reserves to fight debt.

The idea is more about promoting financial inclusion and letting the BTC warriors (Not the 'number go up' degens of the past years) fight the good fight to make positive economic changes to the people's lives. I think, to begin with, this is going to be about the Bitcoin community helping out the people in terms of knowledge and infrastructure support.

To that end, I suppose it'd be a good idea for @Theymos to have a dedicated sub for the El-Salvadorians, if there are any on the forum, or if they ever catch up and come here.

[pjvperes]

It would be very nice for Bitcoin. It will expand demand for Bitcoin, once all population of Salvador (+6mi) would adopt Bitcoin for all transactions. For many people, it may looks something small, but the most people in Bitcoin Community uses bitcoin only as store of value and buys a small amount of your equity. However, if El Salvador uses it as a Bitcoin Standard, almost all population would use it as the most part of their equity.

[buwaytress]

Jack Mallers is one of the people to actually move there and help the unbanked out to get them to know what bitcoin was several years ago.
He comes off as brasive at first but keep watching until the end were he is fully engulfed in the moment where he is brought to tears.

Pretty decent stuff. Thanks for sharing. I'm still never really truly convinced about this "banking the unbanked" stuff. People who need financial services or banks usually don't find Bitcoin as the probably solution for many reasons, technology and access at the heart of it. I've seen in East Africa for example where mobile phone fintech has worked wonders (talking about SMS -based $5 phones on GPRS network, not even smartphones that Bitcoin wallets need right now). Nevertheless, El Salvador isn't a place I know a lot about and if Bitcoin works there, certainly a case study for the naysayers.

And yeah, Japan's not quite "legal tender" apparently as even Reuters had to retract their earlier statements suggesting the same. So yeah, El Salvador CAN take the "first"... but they're not nearly there yet until it's set in stone in the legal books.

Japan recognize bitcoin as legal "property". They do not recognize it as "legal tender". El Salvador is the first in this regard.

Let's see if legislation (or legislators) does indeed catch up. Can see the US Feds keeping an eye on it too. They might prefer LatAm to remain in the financial dark age.

[stompix]

Basically this is saying that every merchant, every business, every person, in El Salvador must accept bitcoin for their goods or services.

This is the thing that bothers me a little, and the border example was perfect on spot with the differences and the choice merchants have.

The moment you approve it as legal tender then everyone must accept it and I doubt Salvador will have the money and the logistic necessary to achieve this, even dealing entirely with plastic cards it's still a near-impossible dream even in most advanced countries so I think for starters they will add a few exemptions for it, first implementing this in administrations and then for payment processors like kiosk and ten chain stores with a minimum annual revenue over x.

But ignoring the challenges ahead that will come with this it's nice to finally have some news about increasing usage not just stockpiling and "investing", using BTC exactly for what one of its key points was, seeing and receiving payments without a third party.

[odolvlobo]

Basically this is saying that every merchant, every business, every person, in El Salvador must accept bitcoin for their goods or services.

This is the thing that bothers me a little, and the border example was perfect on spot with the differences and the choice merchants have.

The moment you approve it as legal tender then everyone must accept it

Legal tender does not mean that it must be accepted for goods and services.

Legal tender is anything recognized by law as a means to settle a public or private debt or meet a financial obligation, including tax payments, contracts, and legal fines or damages.

In the U.S., for example:

There is, however, no Federal statute mandating that a private business, a person or an organization must accept currency or coins as for payment for goods and/or services. Private businesses are free to develop their own policies on whether or not to accept cash unless there is a State law which says otherwise. For example, a bus line may prohibit payment of fares in pennies or dollar bills. In addition, movie theaters, convenience stores and gas stations may refuse to accept large denomination currency (usually notes above $20) as a matter of policy.

[stompix]

Legal tender does not mean that it must be accepted for goods and services.

Depends on the laws of the country.

In the US the dollar might be viewed as legal tender but not every merchant is forced to accept your coins and bills, in other countries like France or Austria, or the Czech Republic every merchant has to accept any banknotes issued by the central bank as a form of payment, they are the only recognized legal tender, the only thing they can refuse is payment in more than x coins, same for China and Japan although I don't know their policy on coins.

Those laws vary even inside the eurozone (well, a bit less now with the whole UK mess out of it ) so god knows what Honduras policy will be and what legal tender will mean there.

[bbc.reporter]

President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele: "Next week I will send to congress a bill that will make #bitcoin a legal tender."

https://twitter.com/BitcoinMagazine/status/1401279550538108933?s=19

Wow, that's amazing news!

I am impressed.

However, that is not done yet. President must submit it to congress, and the Congress may approve it or not! Anyway, amazing news and a big step for bitcoin!

Looks like it will be most likely approved:

The bill must still be reviewed by the country’s legislative assembly. But with the populist Bukele’s upstart political party in firm control of that body, approval seemed all but assured Saturday afternoon.

https://www.coindesk.com/president-of-el-salvador-says-hes-submitting-bill-to-make-bitcoin-legal-tender

Agreed. It might depend on how much political influence Bukele’s political party has on congress. It might be good to know which political party Bukele belongs, does his political party have the majority in congress and what type of political system does El Salvador have. Is it a 2 party system or a multiparty system?

However, this might be good if the bill is signed and passed into law. It will be the first experiment on bitcoin as an adopted currency. All larps and criticisms will be proven correct or wrong.

70% is a majority I think the majority of the lawmakers will also favour the bill since most of their relatives I guess doesn't have financial access. If they successfully pass the law I guess there will be miners going to this country. It wouldn't be BTC that might just be adopted to the country.  I hope they make it so the rest of South America will also follow steps to freedom.

Can you share the source where you got 70% majority?

In any case, it appears Buleke is idealistic but backed by practicality. According to this article, to solve gang crime, his administration makes deals with gang leaders to help the country limit crime themselves. For his support in bitcoin, it appears that instead of criminalizing users, he wants to make it legal tender. This is very much similar to decriminalizing drug use in countries like Portugal.

Bukele’s move might also encourage other Latin American and South American countries to follow El Salvador. This might also unite them. This is something America does not want. The last person who wanted a united South America was Che Guevarra. The CIA killed him.



But there seems to be yet more to Bukele’s approach than a mix of tough enforcement, community development, and personal chemistry. In September, reports of secretive visits by government representatives to high-security jails, and unexplained movements of jailed gang members were confirmed in a bombshell story from the online news outlet El Faro, which cited concrete evidence of ongoing conversations between Bukele’s government officials and jailed MS-13 leaders. El Faro’s report added names and dates to the International Crisis Group’s findings published in a July report that questioned the government’s explanation of its security achievements — namely, that these were due to the Territorial Control Plan — and argued that a gang decision to scale back the use of violence was possibly part of an informal understanding negotiated with authorities.

Source https://warontherocks.com/2020/12/a-bargain-worth-making-bukele-and-the-gangs-of-el-salvador/

[lunaBTC 12]

If the bitcoin bill is passed and becomes El Salvador's legal tender, it will be a great progress in the cryptocurrency and bitcoin industry.

Starting from El Salvador, it gradually influences other countries and finally the whole world. This is an important part of social and human development.