Good morning from El Salvador
We are now in DAY 90 since the government rescinded Bitcoin as legal tender, at the request of the IMF. The new laws go into effect today (April 30)
Let’s step back for some context
The Bitcoin Law from 2021 mandated businesses accept Bitcoin, with a carve out for anyone not able to. On the ground what this meant was that many small businesses never accepted Bitcoin but all of the large chains with a compliance team did—think international such as Wendy’s or Starbucks, as well as regional or domestic ones such as SuperSelectos or Freund
The small businesses were never affected by the 2021 law so it’s unlikely we will see any change there. The large chains—which are ubiquitous in San Salvador and to a lesser extent around the country—are the ones to pay attention to
They have all already set up their systems, so the heavy lifting is done, still I expect some of them to start dropping bitcoin acceptance over the next weeks and months. Most of them used Chivo, the government bitcoin app, which adds a further upcoming complication. That same IMF deal requires El Salvador to close down or sell off Chivo by June 30th. It’s unclear right now how that transition will go and unclear if it would affect businesses that use that application to accept Bitcoin
The bitcoin revolution was never about governments or laws though. Support your local business who accepts Bitcoin—wherever you are
