El Salvador's president Nayib Bukele addressed the nation on Thursday stating that a recently passed law making bitcoin a legal tender will come in effect from September 7, noting that its use will be optional.
El Salvador's Congress already approved the proposal to embrace cryptocurrency, making it the first country in the world to do so. President Bukele said- " the use of bitcoin will be optional.., nobody will receive bitcoin if they don't want it. If someone receives a payment in bitcoin they can choose to receive it automatically in dollars".
Earlier, Athena bitcoin revealed its plan to invest over one million dollars to install about 1,500 cryptocurrency ATMs in the country. As per their website, ATMs can be used to buy bitcoins and sell them for cash.
" one of the reasons we passed the bitcoin law is precisely to help people who send remittances from abroad," said Nayib Bukele. According to the world bank data, El salvador relies heavily on remittances from abroad which made up nearly $6 billion or around a fifth of the country's GDP, the highest in the world.
