El Salvador president Nayib Bukele has announced that Bitcoin will become legal tender in the Central American nation, with a bill being sent to Congress next week.
The announcement was made during the Bitcoin Conference in Miami, which has featured the likes of Microstrategy CEO Michael Saylor and FTX’s CEO Sam Bankman-Fried.
El Salvador will become the first country to accept Bitcoin as legal tender, potentially paving the way for global and mainstream adoption of the cryptocurrency asset class.
“Next week I will send to Congress a bill that will make a legal tender in Salvador.” Bukele said. “In the short term, this will generate jobs and help provide financial inclusion to thousands.”
The Bitcoin Conference Twitter page hailed the news as one of the “biggest announcements in Bitcoin’s history”.
The deal to bring Bitcoin to El Salvador as a legal tender was spearheaded by Zap’s Jack Mallers, who said that he is working with Bukele to implement a plan.
“As of now, El Salvador is set to be the first bitcoin country,” Mallers said, before adding that his company is opening a headquarters in El Salvador in partnership with Blockstream.
At the time of writing Bitcoin is trading at $35,680 as volatility begins to dry up following last month’s shocking 50% correction.
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