Bitcoin, which has had its struggles lately, got a firm thumbs up from El Salvador on Wednesday, after lawmakers in the South American nation voted to approve the cryptocurrency as legal tender.
President Nayib Bukele tweeted in the early hours of Wednesday that legislators had voted in favor of the bill to formally adopt bitcoin with 62 out of 84 votes. “History BTC!” he said.
“History BTC!” Bukele tweeted.
Hours earlier he announced on Twitter that he had just sent the Bitcoin Law to Congress. Article 1 of that reads: “The purpose of this law is to regulate bitcoin as unrestricted legal tender with liberating power, unlimited in any transaction, and to any title that public or private natural or legal persons require carrying out.”
The law also states that prices can be expressed in bitcoin, taxes can be paid in the cryptocurrency and “every economic agent must accept bitcoin as payment when offered to him by whoever acquires a good or service.” As well, the exchange rate between bitcoin and the U.S. dollar will be “freely established by the market,” the document read.
In a Twitter thread a few days ago, Bukele explained the advantage of having bitcoin as legal tender, including how it can help many of those in his country who regularly send money back home. He noted that 70% of the population doesn’t have a bank account and work in “the informal economy.”
Bitcoin BTCUSD, +1.64% will officially become legal tender 90 days after appearing in the country’s Diario Oficial, in which all documents ordered by law are published.
The cryptocurrency was trading modestly higher at $34,542. Bitcoin has lost about 37% in the space of a month and 39% over three months, well off its highs of over $64,000 reached in April.
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