{"id":90717,"date":"2025-02-08T03:16:21","date_gmt":"2025-02-08T03:16:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/08\/el-salvador-is-still-bitcoin-country\/"},"modified":"2025-02-08T03:16:21","modified_gmt":"2025-02-08T03:16:21","slug":"el-salvador-is-still-bitcoin-country","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/2025\/02\/08\/el-salvador-is-still-bitcoin-country\/","title":{"rendered":"El Salvador Is Still Bitcoin Country"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<figure>\n<p>                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/.image\/c_fit%2Ch_800%2Cw_1200\/MjEyMjc3MDgzMDMwNjkzNTA0\/takes-banner.png\" height=\"91\" width=\"1200\"><\/p>\n<\/figure>\n<figure>\n<p>                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/.image\/c_fit%2Ch_800%2Cw_1200\/MjEyNjc1NDk4OTYxMDIwNDI1\/screenshot-2024-09-30-at-10205pm_1.png\" height=\"800\" width=\"805\"><figcaption>Follow Frank on <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/frankcorva\">X<\/a>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>El Salvador is still Bitcoin country, despite the fact that bitcoin is no longer legal tender in the country \u2014 at least from where I\u2019m sitting.<\/p>\n<p>Let\u2019s start with some background on the matter.<\/p>\n<p>On January 29, 2025, the Legislative Assembly in El Salvador voted to <a href=\"https:\/\/reason.com\/2025\/02\/03\/el-salvador-walks-back-its-bitcoin-law\/\">remove bitcoin\u2019s status as legal tender<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>This means that businesses in the country no longer have to accept bitcoin (not that this rule was ever strictly enforced while bitcoin was classified as legal currency, as far as I know; however, I have been told that big businesses that operate in the country (e.g., McDonalds, Walmart) may stop accepting bitcoin as payment now, which could have a detrimental effect on adoption).<\/p>\n<p>This change occurred approximately one month after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) <a href=\"https:\/\/www.imf.org\/en\/News\/Articles\/2024\/12\/18\/pr-24485-el-salvador-imf-reaches-staff-level-agreement-on-an-eff-arrangement\">struck a deal with authorities in El Salvador<\/a> that stipulated the following:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>El Salvador would receive a $1.4 billion loan to support the government\u2019s \u201creform agenda\u201d <\/li>\n<li>Bitcoin-related risks be mitigated; bitcoin acceptance in the private sector must be voluntary, while the public sector\u2019s participation in Bitcoin-related activities would be \u201cconfined\u201d (bitcoin can no longer be used to settle government debts or pay taxes)<\/li>\n<li>Operations for the government-created Bitcoin wallet, Chivo, would be \u201cunwound\u201d<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>While the news of the Salvadoran government\u2019s reversing its policy on bitcoin as legal tender as a result of influence from the IMF feels like a gut punch even to me, someone who isn\u2019t Salvadoran and doesn\u2019t live in the country, I can\u2019t help but believe that El Salvador is still Bitcoin country.<\/p>\n<p>And this feeling has only grown stronger based on what I\u2019ve seen Bitcoiners in El Salvador posting on X.<\/p>\n<p>Evelyn Lemus, co-founder and Director of Education at <a href=\"https:\/\/www.meetup.com\/bitcoin_berlin\/\">Bitcoin Berlin<\/a>, a Bitcoin circular economy within the country, doesn\u2019t plan to stop teaching everyday Salvadorans about Bitcoin.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Just saying it out loud. <\/p>\n<p>Bitcoiners will not stop teaching about Bitcoin and making the adoption happen just because Bitcoin is not legal tender anymore. This means we need to keep pushing harder and keep doing what we do \ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddfb  <\/p>\n<p>LFG\ud83d\ude4c <br \/>Bitcoin in the hands of people \ud83e\udee1 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/hnMpJmL5c7\">pic.twitter.com\/hnMpJmL5c7<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Evelyn Lemus (@Evelynlemus2906) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Evelynlemus2906\/status\/1886140531236872625?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 2, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The team at <a href=\"https:\/\/bitdriver.taxi\/\">Bit Driver<\/a> don\u2019t plan to change their business model \u2014 accepting bitcoin as taxi fare \u2014 any time soon.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">We&#039;re still a Bitcoin a company.<\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Bitdriver (@bitdriver_sv) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bitdriver_sv\/status\/1886185460726194462?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 2, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>While <a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/el-salvador-bitcoin-news\/bitcoin-education-can-change-the-world-mi-primer-bitcoin-my-first-bitcoin\">John Dennehy, founder of Mi Primer Bitcoin<\/a>, expressed concern about the government of El Salvador\u2019s rolling back its policy on bitcoin as legal currency, he and the ever-growing team at Mi Primer Bitcoin plan to double down on the work they\u2019re doing.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Good morning from El Salvador!<\/p>\n<p>We are now in DAY NINE since the government rescinded Bitcoin as legal tender, at the request of the IMF (effective after 90 days)<\/p>\n<p>This means grassroots, independent Bitcoin education is now MORE important than ever<\/p>\n<p>In response, at\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/iTXdf0gAoL\">pic.twitter.com\/iTXdf0gAoL<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; John Dennehy (@jdennehy_writes) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/jdennehy_writes\/status\/1887909061837967859?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 7, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The legendary <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=55H-aVSgWpo\">Max and Stacy<\/a> haven\u2019t publicly voiced any plans to give up on El Salvador anytime soon.<\/p>\n<p>And <a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/business\/el-salvadors-bitcoin-office-celebrates-21-months-of-success-sets-stage-for-renaissance-2-0\">El Salvador\u2019s Bitcoin Office, run by Stacy<\/a>, is still stacking bitcoin and helping to run Bitcoin education programs in the country.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">\ud83c\uddf8\ud83c\uddfbEL SALVADOR STACKS ANOTHER 1 BTC TO STRATEGIC RESERVE<\/p>\n<p>El Salvador is still stacking. <\/p>\n<p>Every day. <\/p>\n<p>\u27a1\ufe0fTotal SBR Holdings:  6,071.18 BTC                  <br \/>\u27a1\ufe0fTotal Added Today: +1 BTC        <br \/>\u27a1\ufe0fTotal Added Past 7 Days:  +22 BTC            <br \/>\u27a1\ufe0fTotal Added Past 30 Days:  +60 BTC\u2026 <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/y4kv2693BX\">pic.twitter.com\/y4kv2693BX<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; The Bitcoin Office (@bitcoinofficesv) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bitcoinofficesv\/status\/1887927389788700862?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">February 7, 2025<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>The lesson here is that while the law around Bitcoin may have changed in El Salvador, the Bitcoiners on the ground in the country have hardly flinched.<\/p>\n<p>Because <a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/takes\/frank-we-are-bitcoin\">we are Bitcoin<\/a>, what matters most is that everyday Salvadorans and everyone else involved in the Bitcoin movement in El Salvador continues to push forward with the Bitcoin mission.<\/p>\n<p>The IMF may have landed a blow, but Bitcoiners in El Salvador remain steadfast in their efforts to foster broader Bitcoin adoption.<\/p>\n<p>El Salvador is still Bitcoin country.<\/p>\n<p><em>This article is a <\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/takes\/bitcoin-magazine-introduces-opinion-takes\"><em>Take<\/em><\/a><em>. Opinions expressed are entirely the author&#8217;s and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/takes\/el-salvador-is-still-bitcoin-country\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Follow Frank on X. El Salvador is still Bitcoin country, despite the fact that bitcoin is no longer legal tender in the country \u2014 at<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":90718,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[151],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90717","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crypto"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90717","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90717"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90717\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90718"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90717"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90717"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/neclink.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90717"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}