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Two United States senators from opposite political backgrounds have re-passed a 2022 law aimed at reducing the perceived risks associated with El Salvador’s adoption of bitcoin as a legal currency.
Congressional records showed that Idaho Senator James Rish and New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez introduced “a bill requiring reports on the adoption of cryptocurrency as legal tender in El Salvador” on May 11. El Salvador’s law, which Rish introduced in February 2022, just months after El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law went into effect.
According to a Washington Examiner report on May 12, Rish introduced the bill as part of an effort to crack down on the use of cryptocurrencies as legal tender, saying it could “weaken economic and financial stability and empower attackers.” Bitcoin (BTC) has been accepted as legal tender in El Salvador along with the national currency colon and the US dollar since September 2021.
If passed, the bill could require federal agencies in the United States to report on El Salvador’s cybersecurity and financial stability capabilities, and how this could lead to the country’s Bitcoin law. The International Monetary Fund also warned the Central American nation in February to consider the risk of BTC as legal tender to the financial integrity and stability of the country.
The previous version of Bitcoin legislation submitted to the Senate passed through committee in April 2022. Legislators in the House of Representatives also introduced a companion bill, but according to congressional records, the law has not changed in over a year.
Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that the US Government would be afraid of what we are doing here. pic.twitter.com/QgJPa70mn0
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) March 23, 2022
Related: El Salvador Bitcoin Strategy Evolved With Bear Market In 2022
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele directly attacked US lawmakers, calling them “boomers” on Twitter the last time the bill was introduced, saying they were trying to interfere with a “sovereign and independent state.” Under Bukele, the country has adopted many pro-crypto policies, including plans to raise funds to build a “bitcoin city” using BTC-backed bonds.
