{"id":13247,"date":"2025-02-15T07:03:54","date_gmt":"2025-02-15T07:03:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=13247"},"modified":"2025-02-15T07:03:54","modified_gmt":"2025-02-15T07:03:54","slug":"expert-clarifies-is-bitcoin-still-legal-tender-in-el-salvador","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/?p=13247","title":{"rendered":"Expert Clarifies: Is Bitcoin Still Legal Tender In El Salvador?"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Samson Mow, CEO of JAN3, has released an analysis<\/a> of recent amendments to El Salvador\u2019s Bitcoin Law, casting new light on whether Bitcoin remains legal tender in the country. While the Salvadoran government has repeatedly assured that \u201ceverything is awesome,\u201d Mow urges caution, noting that the revisions both preserve Bitcoin\u2019s legal tender status and dilute its classification as a \u201ccurrency.\u201d He describes the situation as \u201cBitcoin both is and isn\u2019t legal tender,\u201d which underscores the law\u2019s paradoxical stance.<\/p>\n

Amid Confusion: \u201cBitcoin Both Is and Isn\u2019t Legal Tender\u201d<\/h2>\n

Mow explains that the government\u2019s original Bitcoin Law still exists, but official references to BTC as \u201ccurrency\u201d have been removed, and Bitcoin usage is now considered voluntary. In his own words, \u201cIt is defined as legal tender but lacks the thing that actually makes it legal tender.\u201d He offers the example of Article 1, which no longer employs the word \u201ccurrency\u201d and makes BTC optional for businesses. Mow observes that this could diminish the incentive for larger corporations, such as Starbucks or McDonald\u2019s, to maintain Bitcoin payment systems, since legal tender status was previously a motivator for compliance.<\/p>\n

He also draws attention to Article 3, which previously permitted any price to be expressed in BTC. The amended text now states that any price \u201cmay be converted into BTC,\u201d rather than directly quoted in BTC alone. Mow notes that \u201cmost people convert fiat prices to BTC for payment,\u201d yet worries that the change may discourage explicit Bitcoin pricing, as it hints that official amounts might need to be stated in fiat before any conversion.<\/p>\n

In Article 4, the government has removed the option of paying taxes in BTC. Mow believes this means the state can also no longer accept Bitcoin for applications such as company incorporations, passport programs, citizenship by investment, or even the $12 tourist fee at the airport. Although the amendments do not explicitly forbid BTC transactions in these areas, the deletion of relevant text effectively disqualifies Bitcoin from being used for these official payments.<\/p>\n

Article 5 continues to exempt BTC from capital gains taxes. Mow interprets this as further proof that El Salvador now aligns Bitcoin more with the notion of an asset than with money or a currency, consistent with mainstream views of Bitcoin\u2019s legal treatment around the world.<\/p>\n

While the law technically allows citizens to use Bitcoin, Article 7 asserts that the Salvadoran government cannot touch BTC, other than possibly holding it in reserves. It is likewise no longer required to facilitate Bitcoin transactions, a shift that paves the way for El Salvador to wind down or sell Chivo<\/a>, the state-sponsored wallet platform. Mow notes that \u201cChivo served as an important fiat\/BTC bridge and gave Bitcoin exposure to millions of people.\u201d Even so, it was frequently criticized for bugs and suboptimal performance.<\/p>\n

IMF Agreement And The Question Of \u201cConfined\u201d Usage<\/h2>\n

Mow also raises questions about El Salvador\u2019s agreement with the International Monetary Fund<\/a>. The IMF\u2019s official language mentions that Bitcoin will be \u201cconfined,\u201d but it does not define the term with complete clarity. According to Mow, the Salvadoran government has continued to accumulate BTC in reserves, though it remains uncertain whether this policy will continue or if it might be limited by future interpretations of the IMF deal. He underlines that many Bitcoiners are looking for \u201ca more substantive answer\u201d than an ambiguous \u201cwe\u2019re still buying.\u201d<\/p>\n

Uncertainty also surrounds the future of merchant adoption. Companies like Super Selectos, El Salvador\u2019s largest supermarket chain, rely on Chivo infrastructure to accept BTC. Mow worries that once Chivo is unwound, businesses could face higher overhead if they choose to integrate another wallet system. He points out that \u201cthere are just not enough BTC transactions to warrant the cost of maintaining two payment systems,\u201d suggesting that corporate adoption of BTC could diminish.<\/p>\n

He further highlights the political dimension, mentioning that Super Selectos is owned by Grupo Calleja, whose vice-president Carlos Calleja ran against President Nayib Bukele in the 2019 election. Mow does not claim that this political rivalry will necessarily end BTC acceptance, but he sees it as one more reason why BTC usage could be scaled back if it does not generate enough volume to justify extra expenses.<\/p>\n

The new voluntary legal tender designation is what Mow calls the \u201cglass half full, half empty\u201d scenario. On one hand, El Salvador still has a Bitcoin Law on the books. The amendments preserve no capital gains taxes on BTC, and the government is free to maintain reserves. On the other hand, the country is no longer unique in its approach. Mow notes that other jurisdictions\u2014such as Prospera, which still recognizes BTC as legal tender; Bhutan<\/a> and the United States, both of which hold BTC as a reserve asset; and various areas offering no capital gains on BTC\u2014may now rival El Salvador in providing attractive conditions for Bitcoiners.<\/p>\n

Mow acknowledges that many crypto enthusiasts moved to El Salvador or built businesses there precisely because the law originally offered a clear, top-down mandate for Bitcoin acceptance. The reclassification, coupled with the ambiguous commitments under the IMF agreement, leaves some of them with open questions about the permanence or strength of the country\u2019s policy. Yet, according to Mow, none of this means the end of El Salvador\u2019s experiment. \u201cThere is more adoption of Bitcoin around the world than ever before and ES helped play a role in that,\u201d he says, adding that President Bukele \u201chas to do what he thinks is best for the country first and foremost.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mow also reveals the motivation behind his own company, stating, \u201cThis is why I started JAN3, and this is why we have been focused on getting more nation-state Bitcoin adoption around the world. We need a strong interlocked incentive structure where countries are competing to out-Bitcoin each other.\u201d He believes that only through real-world usage, either grassroots or endorsed by governments, will BTC gain widespread and lasting acceptance.<\/p>\n

These developments in El Salvador mark an evolution rather than a straightforward retraction of the Bitcoin Law. The amendments attempt to reconcile the country\u2019s initial commitment to BTC with practical concerns that have surfaced, including the need to work constructively with international lenders. The result is a scenario in which the law remains on the books, Bitcoin remains legal tender, but the mechanism by which the government and businesses interface with it has been scaled back.<\/p>\n

For now, Salvadoran authorities appear content to acknowledge BTC as an asset and maintain existing reserves, while stepping back from obligations to accept BTC for official payments and taxes. Many who observe or participate in BTC\u2019s global growth will be monitoring how these changes play out, particularly if businesses voluntarily decide to keep supporting BTC or begin to abandon it. Yet, as Mow points out, \u201cPolitical parties in power change. Laws can be changed easily. What matters is real Bitcoin adoption\u2014top down or grassroots, the goal is real people understanding and using Bitcoin.\u201d<\/p>\n

At press time, BTC traded at $96,830.<\/p>\n

\"Bitcoin<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Samson Mow, CEO of JAN3, has released an analysis of recent amendments to El Salvador\u2019s Bitcoin Law, casting new light on whether Bitcoin remains legal tender in the country. While the Salvadoran government has repeatedly assured that \u201ceverything is awesome,\u201d Mow urges caution, noting that the revisions both preserve Bitcoin\u2019s legal tender status and dilute […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"iawp_total_views":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[3,4,5],"class_list":["post-13247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-news","tag-crypto","tag-doge","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13247\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dogewisperer.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}