WSJWhatsNow: El Salvador passed a law Wednesday making it the first country to approve bitcoin as legal tender. Here's what that means.
El Salvador passed a new law on Wednesday that would make the small Central American country the world’s first to deem bitcoin legal tender, a move that analysts say risks putting its economy at the mercy of the digital currency’s sharp swings.
The designation allows bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market value, to be used to buy goods and pay taxes and bank loans. Businesses would be required to accept bitcoin for payment, with the bitcoin-dollar exchange rate set by the market. Converting bitcoin into other currencies won’t be subject to capital-gains tax, according to the three-page bill that was submitted Tuesday evening and swiftly approved after midnight by lawmakers of President Nayib Bukele’s New Ideas party, which enjoys a supermajority in the 84-member Legislative Assembly.
“Bitcoiners around the world, the time has come. We are ready. We did our part, now the ball is on your side,” said William Soriano, a ruling party member and one of the 62 lawmakers who voted for the bill., has struggled over the years to manage its finances and has used the U.S. dollar as its official currency since 2001.
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