A group of United States senators have introduced a bill requiring reports on the adoption of bitcoin as legal tender in El Salvador.
The "Accountability for Cryptocurrency in El Salvador Act," introduced by Senator James Risch, Senator Bob Menendez, and Senator Bill Cassidy, requires the Secretary of State, in coordination with other relevant Federal departments and agencies, to submit a report on the adoption of bitcoin as legal tender in El Salvador. The report must include an assessment of the regulatory framework in El Salvador and the potential impact of Bitcoin adoption on macroeconomic stability, democratic governance, and the flow of remittances from the United States to El Salvador.
The bill also calls for a plan to mitigate any potential risks to the United States financial system posed by the adoption of a cryptocurrency as legal tender in El Salvador and any other country that uses the U.S. dollar as legal tender. According to the bill, the plan should be submitted to the appropriate committees of Congress no later than 90 days after the report required by subsection (a).
The Bitcoin Law, passed by the Salvadoran government in June 2021, gives Bitcoin legal tender status in the country. The move was criticized by some experts, who argued that it could lead to instability in the country's economy. Others, however, saw the move as a potential catalyst for broader adoption of bitcoin in the region. Despite the controversy surrounding the move, El Salvador has remained committed to its Bitcoin adoption plans.