El Salvador, a country in Central America, has legalized bitcoin as legal tender in the county.
Naija News understands that the development makes the country the first nation to approve the cryptocurrency Bitcoin as a legal tender. The nation’s President, Nayib Bukele made the announcement after Lawmakers in the Central American nation’s Congress passed a bill late Tuesday, June 8.
The digital currency will now be legally accepted for many aspects of daily life from property purchases to tax contributions in the country. “The #BitcoinLaw has just been approved by a qualified majority” in the legislative assembly, President Bukele announced in a tweet on Tuesday.
“History!” the 39-year-old president added.
Naija News understands that 62 out of 84 of the nation’s lawmakers had voted in favour of the move to create a law to adopt bitcoin, despite concern about the potential impact on El Salvador’s program with the International Monetary Fund. Meanwhile, President Bukele had noted earlier on Twitter before the vote in Congress that the digital currency “will bring financial inclusion, investment, tourism, innovation and economic development for our country.”
“The use of bitcoin will be optional for individuals and would not bring risks to users,” Bukele said.
“The Bitcoin law is ambitious, but simple,” Bukele said on Twitter. “Furthermore it is well structured to have zero risk for those who do not want to take risks. The government will guarantee the convertibility to the exact value in dollars at the moment of the transaction.”
He added that the government will guarantee convertibility to dollars at the time of transaction through a trust created at the country’s development bank BANDESAL.
“They have to take the Bitcoin, but they don’t have to take the risk. We might earn some money or we might lose some money, but it doesn’t matter. The purpose of the trust fund is not to make money but to support making Bitcoin a legal tender,” Bukele reiterated.
Its use as legal tender in El Salvador will go into law in 90 days, with the bitcoin-dollar exchange rate set by the market.
Meanwhile, a call has gone out for the arrest and prosecution of Nigeria’s Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Abubakar Malami over alleged involvement in cryptocurrency trading despite government ban.
The call was made by ex-presidential aide, Reno Omokri who revealed an icon spotted on the screenshot shared by Malami after deactivating his Twitter account, Naija News reports.
This article was originally published on Nigeria News