El Salvador launches Bitcoin certifications for civil servants

El Salvador’s National Bitcoin Office launches a certification program to train 80,000 government employees on Bitcoin management and public policy.
El Salvador’s National Bitcoin Office launches a certification program to train 80,000 government employees on Bitcoin management and public policy.

The National Bitcoin Office (ONBTC) of El Salvador will train and provide Bitcoin instruction and certifications to 80,000 government employees.

The Bitcoin (BTC)-friendly Central American nation has launched a training program for public servants to impart knowledge about the strategic management and public policies around Bitcoin. 

The 160-hour virtual and asynchronous training session — Certification in Public Administration 1 — is divided into seven modules, each detailing several concepts, laws, skills and management related to the use of Bitcoin as legal tender.

Source: The Bitcoin Office

Creating a Bitcoin-ready national workforce

Stacy Herbert, director of ONBTC, expects that training civil servants will have a “compounding effect” on El Salvador’s Bitcoin-driven economy. In believing so, she plans to announce more educational initiatives. She said:

“These education projects are very low time preference commitments to the long-term success of El Salvador and its Bitcoin (and tech) policy.”

The Bitcoin certification drive is conducted by the Higher School of Innovation in Public Administration (ESIAP), which President Nayib Bukele inaugurated in August 2021.

Related: El Salvador launches $360M Bitcoin treasury monitoring website

According to ONBTC, also known as “The Bitcoin Office,” the curriculum is designed specifically “to strengthen the standard of excellence in governance and public administration in El Salvador.”

Argentina learns from El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption

El Salvador’s financial success with Bitcoin adoption caught the attention of other hyper-inflated economies. 

In May, the government of Argentina began working with El Salvador to learn from its experience of Bitcoin adoption and other cryptocurrency activities.

Argentina’s securities regulator, the National Securities Commission (CNV), met with El Salvador’s National Commission of Digital Assets (CNAD) to discuss crypto adoption and regulation in the two countries.

El Salvador’s CNAD President Juan Carlos Reyes (left) and Argentina’s CNV President Roberto Silva (right). Source: Argentina.gob.ar

During the meeting, CNV President Silva said:

“We want to strengthen ties with the Republic of El Salvador, and therefore, we are going to explore the possibility of signing collaboration agreements with them.”

Moreover, Argentina recently passed registration requirements for crypto firms in April and has been actively experimenting with cryptocurrency since Bitcoin-friendly politician Javier Milei became Argentina’s president in late 2023.


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