IMF urges El Salvador to drop Bitcoin as legal tender
ABC News
The International Monetary Fund wants El Salvador to drop the highly volatile cryptocurrency Bitcoin as legal tender and strictly regulate the electronic wallet the government has pushed adoption of across the country
SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador -- The International Monetary Fund wants El Salvador to drop the highly volatile cryptocurrency Bitcoin as legal tender and strictly regulate the electronic wallet the government has pushed adoption of across the country.
The global lender’s board “urged the authorities to narrow the scope of the Bitcoin law by removing Bitcoin’s legal tender status,” the IMF said in a statement Tuesday.
“The adoption of a cryptocurrency as legal tender, however, entails large risks for financial and market integrity, financial stability and consumer protection,” the IMF statement said.
President Nayib Bukele led the push to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender alongside the U.S. dollar. El Salvador’s Legislative Assembly made the country the first to do so in June.
