HIGHLIGHTS
- El Salvador legislature passes the new ‘Bitcoin Law’ paving the way to adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender.
- Bitcoin will be used alongside USD, the nation’s official currency.
- Exchanges in Bitcoin will not be subject to capital gains tax, just like any other legal tender.
El Salvador has passed the new ‘Bitcoin Law’ to become first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender.
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele took to twitter and wrote, “The #BitcoinLaw has been approved by a supermajority in the Salvadoran Congress. 62 out of 84 votes! History! #Btc“
The #BitcoinLaw has been approved by a supermajority in the Salvadoran Congress.
— Nayib Bukele 🇸🇻 (@nayibbukele) June 9, 2021
62 out of 84 votes!
History! #Btc🇸🇻
El Salvador’s Key Considerations to adopt Bitcoin as a Legal Tender
- Approximately 70% of the population does not have access to traditional financial services, and it is the obligation of the state to facilitate the financial inclusion of its citizens in order to better guarantee their rights.
- In order to promote the economic growth of the nation, it is necessary to authorize the circulation of a digital currency whose value answers exclusively to free-market criteria, in order to increase national wealth for the benefit of the greatest number of the inhabitants.
Read more: El Salvador to make Bitcoin a legal tender
Key Points of the El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law
- The purpose of this law is to regulate bitcoin as unrestricted legal tender with liberating power, unlimited in any transaction, and to any title that public or private natural or legal persons require carrying out.
- The digital currency will be used alongside the U.S. dollar, the nation’s official currency.
- The exchange rate between Bitcoin and the United States dollar will be freely established by the market.
- Exchanges in Bitcoin will not be subject to capital gains tax, just like any legal tender.
- Every economic agent must accept bitcoin as payment when offered to him by whoever acquires a good or service.
- This law will have a special character in its application concerning other laws that regulate the matter, being repealed any provision that contradicts it.
The new ‘Bitcoin Law’ is expected to take effect ninety days after its publication in the Official Gazette.
Read more: El Salvador Villages Are Already Living In Bitcoin Economy