El Salvador Is Still Bitcoin Country
Bitcoin may no longer be legal tender in El Salvador, but Bitcoiners in the country haven't given up on the mission.
El Salvador is still Bitcoin country, despite the fact that bitcoin is no longer legal tender in the country — at least from where I’m sitting.
Let’s start with some background on the matter.
On January 29, 2025, the Legislative Assembly in El Salvador voted to remove bitcoin’s status as legal tender.
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).
This change occurred approximately one month after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) struck a deal with authorities in El Salvador that stipulated the following:
- El Salvador would receive a $1.4 billion loan to support the government’s “reform agenda”
- Bitcoin-related risks be mitigated; bitcoin acceptance in the private sector must be voluntary, while the public sector’s participation in Bitcoin-related activities would be “confined” (bitcoin can no longer be used to settle government debts or pay taxes)
- Operations for the government-created Bitcoin wallet, Chivo, would be “unwound”
While the news of the Salvadoran government’s 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’t Salvadoran and doesn’t live in the country, I can’t help but believe that El Salvador is still Bitcoin country.
And this feeling has only grown stronger based on what I’ve seen Bitcoiners in El Salvador posting on X.
Evelyn Lemus, co-founder and Director of Education at Bitcoin Berlin, a Bitcoin circular economy within the country, doesn’t plan to stop teaching everyday Salvadorans about Bitcoin.
Just saying it out loud.
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
