The post Bitcoin Still Legal Tender In El Salvador? appeared on BitcoinEthereumNews.com.

Samson Mow, CEO of JAN3, has released an analysis of recent amendments to El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law, casting new light on whether Bitcoin remains legal tender in the country. While the Salvadoran government has repeatedly assured that “everything is awesome,” Mow urges caution, noting that the revisions both preserve Bitcoin’s legal tender status and dilute its classification as a “currency.” He describes the situation as “Bitcoin both is and isn’t legal tender,” which underscores the law’s paradoxical stance. Amid Confusion: “Bitcoin Both Is and Isn’t Legal Tender” Mow explains that the government’s original Bitcoin Law still exists, but official references to BTC as “currency” have been removed, and Bitcoin usage is now considered voluntary. In his own words, “It is defined as legal tender but lacks the thing that actually makes it legal tender.” He offers the example of Article 1, which no longer employs the word “currency” and makes BTC optional for businesses. Mow observes that this could diminish the incentive for larger corporations, such as Starbucks or McDonald’s, to maintain Bitcoin payment systems, since legal tender status was previously a motivator for compliance. He also draws attention to Article 3, which previously permitted any price to be expressed in BTC. The amended text now states that any price “may be converted into BTC,” rather than directly quoted in BTC alone. Mow notes that “most people convert fiat prices to BTC for payment,” yet worries that the change may discourage explicit Bitcoin pricing, as it hints that official amounts might need to be stated in fiat before any conversion. In Article 4, the government has removed the option of paying taxes in BTC. Mow believes this means the state can also no longer accept Bitcoin for applications such as company incorporations, passport programs, citizenship by investment, or even the…

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Filed under: News - @ February 15, 2025 7:25 am