US lawmakers are addressing the perceived risks of crypto adoption in El Salvador with the reintroduced law
Two U.S. senators from different political parties have reintroduced legislation beginning in 2022 aimed at mitigating the perceived risks associated with El Salvador’s adoption of bitcoin as legal tender.
Congressional papers showed that on May 11, Idaho Senator James Risch and New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez “tabled a bill mandating reports of the adoption of cryptocurrencies as legal tender in El Salvador.” El Salvador Law, which Risch introduced in February 2022, just a few months after El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law went into effect.
According to a May 12 Washington Examiner report, Risch introduced the bill as part of efforts to combat the use of cryptocurrencies as legal tender, claiming it could “weaken economic and financial stability and empower malicious actors.” Since September 2021, Bitcoin (BTC) has been accepted as legal tender in El Salvador alongside the national currency, the colon, and the US dollar.
If passed, the bill could require federal authorities in the United States to report on El Salvador’s cybersecurity and financial stability capabilities and how these may have led to the passage of the country’s bitcoin law. The International Monetary Fund also warned the Central American nation in February not to consider the risk of BTC as legal tender to the country’s financial integrity and stability.
The previous version of the bitcoin-focused bill introduced in the Senate passed the committee in April 2022. Lawmakers in the House of Representatives also introduced an accompanying bill, but according to Congressional records, the law has not been implemented in more than a year.
Related: El Salvador’s Bitcoin strategy evolved with the 2022 bear market
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele directly attacked US lawmakers as “boomers” when the bill was last introduced on Twitter, claiming they were trying to interfere with “a sovereign and independent nation”. Under Bukele, the country has embarked on many crypto-friendly moves, including plans to raise funds to build a “Bitcoin City” using BTC-backed bonds.
Magazine: What it’s actually like to use Bitcoin in El Salvador
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