El Salvador became the first country in the world to officially adopt Bitcoin as legal tender on Wednesday, according to a tweet from the president’s communication secretary.
Congress passed the “Bitcoin Law” with 62 votes, the tweet confirmed, finalizing the process to make the cryptocurrency legal in the small Central American country.
In another tweet, President Nayib Bukele celebrated the passing of the law as a moment of “History!”
Bukele was able to get the law passed with the help of his allies in Congress. Opposition parties, which had criticized the speed of the vote, did not back the legislation, AFP reported.
The president announced that his country would adopt the cryptocurrency during a Bitcoin conference on Saturday. He sees the move as a way of encouraging foreign investment in El Salvador, saying at the time that if just 1% of the world’s Bitcoin were to be invested in the country, “that would increase our GDP by 25%.”
More to come…