26-06-2021 | 13:25 PM
El Salvador adopted bitcoin as legal tender
El Salvador, a small coastal country in Central America has become the first in the world to adopt Bitcoin, as legal tender. Legal tender is the legally recognized money within a given political jurisdiction.
Key Highlights
• Even though there were concerns regarding the potential impact of legalizing cryptocurrency on El Salvador’s program of $1 billion with the International Monetary Fund, the proposal was passed with a majority of 62 out of 84 possible votes.
• El Salvador has not had its own monetary policy since 2001 when a right-wing government made the US dollar the official currency. Along with Ecuador and Panama, El Salvador is currently among three nations in Latin America to have a ‘dollarized economy.
About Bitcoin:
• Introduced in 2009, it is a type of cryptocurrency that enables instant payments to anyone.
• Cryptocurrency is a specific type of virtual currency, which is decentralized and protected by cryptographic encryption techniques.
• Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple are a few notable examples of cryptocurrencies.
• Bitcoin is based on an open-source protocol and is not issued by any central authority.
• Originally, Bitcoin was intended to provide an alternative to fiat money and become a universally accepted medium of exchange directly between two involved parties.
