First in the World, El Salvador Will Use Bitcoin as a Legal Payment Tool

El Salvador plans to announce the use bitcoin as a means of payment which is legal in the country, other than the US dollar.

President of El Salvador , Nayib Bukele announced an El Salvador partnership with digital wallet company, Strike, to build the country's modern financial infrastructure using bitcoin technology .

"Next week I will send to Congress a bill that would make bitcoin become legal tender," said Bukele as quoted by CNBC , Monday (07/06/2021).

Meanwhile, the founder of payment platform Lightning Network Strike, Jack Mallers, described the plan as "a shot that will be heard around the world for bitcoin."

“What is transformative here is that bitcoin is the largest reserve asset ever created and a preeminent monetary network. Holding bitcoin provides a way to protect developing countries from potential fiat currency inflation shocks,” Mallers added.

El Salvador is a country that is included in the cash economy or mostly uses cash funds. About 70 percent of people do not have a bank account or credit card. Bukle believes that the low level of banking penetration in El Salvador will also increase with the use of Bitcoin

This is not El Salvador's first move towards bitcoin. In March, Strike launched its mobile payments app in the country. Then it quickly became the number one download app in El Salvador .

Strike CEO Jack Mallers stated, Bitcoin's future could be brighter. “Adopting native digital currencies as legal tender provides El Salvador with the most secure, efficient and globally integrated open payment network in the world,” said Mallers .

Meanwhile, according to CoinMarketCap , the global cryptocurrency market has so far grown to more than US$2.5 trillion in mid-May 2020. This news is driven by increasing and serious investor interest, from Wall Street, Silicon Valley, to various parts of the world.