El Salvador: Bitcoin cryptocurrency na legal tender for di kontri now

A man standing at his shop which accepts bitcoin as payment

Reuters

El Salvador don become di first kontri in di world wey go officially legalise Bitcoin as currency.

Congress approve President Nayib Bukele proposal to embrace di cryptocurrency, with 62 out of 84 possible votes on Tuesday night.

Di president say di goment don make history and e go dey easy for El-Salvador citizens wey dey abroad to send money home.

President Bukele also tok say di Bitcoin go help include im citizens for official finance sake of 70% no get bank account.

Bitcoin go become legal tender, alongside di US dollar, in 90 days.

Di new law mean say every business must accept Bitcoin as legal tender for goods or services, unless dem dey unable to provide di technology dem need to do di transaction.

Why dem take dis step?

“E go bring financial inclusion, investment, tourism, innovation and economic development for our country,” President Bukele tok for tweet shortly before di vote.

E bin don tok say di move go open up financial services to di 70% of Salvadorans wey no get bank accounts.

El Salvador economy dey rely heavily on remittances, or money wey dem send home from abroad, wey make up around 20% of di kontri gross domestic product (GDP).

More dan two million Salvadorans dey live outside di kontri, but dem continue to keep close ties to dia place of birth, sending back more dan $4bn (£2.8bn) each year.

Wetin be di reactions?

Ontop Twitter, some financial and legal observers describe di law change as remarkable accomplishment and game changer, while odas raise concerns about di cryptocurrency way wey pesin no fit predict. Experts don warn say e fit also complicate matters with di International Monetary Fund (IMF), wia El Salvador dey find more dan $1 billion programme.

Di Congress vote happun on di same day wey former US President Donald Trump say e see Bitcoin as a “scam”.

“I no like am because na another currency wey dey compete against di dollar,” e bin tell Fox Business.

Bitcoin, na virtual asset with no direct connection to di real economy, e don see big fluctuations in value over di years.

Most of di world central banks dem dey look into di possibility of creating dia own digital currencies. For April, di Bank of England announce say dem dey look into creating a digital money wey go exist alongside cash and bank deposits.