Nayib Bukele announced he will promote legislation to make El Salvador the first country in the world to legalize bitcoin

El Salvador is seeking to pass legislation that will make it the first sovereign nation in the world to adopt Bitcoin as a legal currency of exchange, with the US dollar.

This was confirmed by its president, Nayib Bukele, during a video broadcast at the Bitcoin 2021 conference, a meeting held in Miami on June 4 and 5.

As explained by the rule in the video, the The objective of this measure is to create jobs and also to “give financial inclusion to thousands of people outside the formal economy”.

During his presentation, Bukele said that the A Central American country will partner with the Strike Digital Wallet to create the financial infrastructure needed to use digital currency.

“Next week I will send a bill to Congress that will convert bitcoin into legal tender”said Bukele.

Jack Mallers, founder of the Lightning Network Strike payment platform, was quoted by CNBC He said Bukele’s announcement will serve as an alert to the rest of the world that something is changing.

“What is transformative here is that Bitcoin is both the largest reserve asset ever and a superior monetary network. Holding bitcoin is one way to protect developing economies from the potential impacts of fiat currency inflation, ”Mallers continued.

Speaking from the main stage at the conference, Mallers said the action taken by Bukele will help to unlock the power and potential of bitcoin for everyday use cases in an open network that benefits individuals, businesses and public sector services.

El Salvador is a predominantly monetary economy, where approximately 70% of people don’t have a bank account or credit card.

More, Remittances – or money sent by migrants – accounts for more than 20% of El Salvador’s gross domestic product.

Currently, existing services may charge a 10% or more fee for these international transfers., which can take days to arrive and sometimes requires physical pickup.

Bitcoin is not backed by any asset, nor by any particular government. Its value stems, in part, from the fact that it is numerically rare.

While details are still awaited on how the implementation will work, CNBC reported that the government of El Salvador has already assembled a team of bitcoin executives to help. build a new financial ecosystem with bitcoin as the foundation layer.

“It was inevitable, but here it is: the first country on the way to converting Bitcoin into legal tender”, dijo Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream.

Back said he was planning providing technologies such as liquid and satellite infrastructure to make El Salvador a model for the world. “We are delighted to help El Salvador on the path to adopting the Bitcoin standard,” he added.

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