The government of El Salvador voted in favor of creating a $150 million Bitcoin Trust. Its role: to convert BTC to USD so the local population can balance their cryptocurrency exposure. The initiative comes less than a week before the Latin American country starts using bitcoin as legal tender.
The Legislative Assembly of El Salvador will develop the cryptocurrency infrastructure by creating a $150 million Bitcoin Trust. It will facilitate conversions from BTC to U.S. dollars ahead of the country’s planned adoption of the digital asset as legal tender on September 7th. The officials approved the new bill with a supermajority decision – 64 voted in favor while 14 went against it.
The Development Bank of El Salvador (Bandesal) will be the institution in charge of the $150 million Trust. María Luisa Hayém Brevé – the Minister of Economy – said the government could increase the amount of the fund if necessary. It is worth noting that the $150 million would be redirected from a $500 million loan previously granted for economic recovery.
Despite assuring that the upcoming BTC adoption would guarantee financial benefits to El Salvador, President Bukele saw some turmoil in his country recently. As CryptoPotato reported, some locals went to the streets, demonstrating against the government’s decision to accept the primary cryptocurrency as a legal tender.
Hayém Brevé explained that the fear and doubt among Salvadorans is normal as the initiative is new and unexplored. However, she praised El Salvador as the “forefront of financial technology,” which the rest of the world currently observes. Regarding the Chivo Wallet that allows citizens to convert BTC to USD automatically, she added:
“We have several teams in the territory to show the population how to use the Chivo Wallet. We have developed a friendly application so that all Salvadorians can learn to use this cryptocurrency.”
While it is still unknown how accepting bitcoin as legal tender would affect the country, one thing is for sure: the move significantly increased its popularity.
The worldwide Google searches for El Salvador skyrocketed in June when the nation officially announced its decision. They even reached a new yearly high – a serious achievement for a small country struggling with corruption and high poverty rates for years.
It is worth noting that bitcoin searches, which went to a new high in mid-May following the Tesla and Elon Musk announcement, also spiked in this historical week for El Salvador.