El Salvador Financial News

Last year, El Salvador dominated headlines as the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. The move is controversial both in and outside of the country, heralded for its potential to bring financial services to large portions of El Salvador’s unbanked population and criticized for its top-down implementation. This has created a sense of uncertainty and made some Salvadorans feel they lacked a choice, despite locations like El Zonte already accepting Bitcoin (BTC) as payment through organic developments that predate the law.

2021 was a big year for cryptocurrency. El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender. In November 2021, the price of Bitcoin hit an all-time high approaching the psychologically significant mark of $70,000. And, all along the way, industry influencers like Elon Musk have been tweeting their enthusiasm about cryptocurrency more broadly.

Bitso, one of Latin America's largest cryptocurrency exchanges, said Thursday it will enter the Colombian market, hiring former Mastercard executive Emilio Pardo as its new country manager.

The Turkish government is working on plans to get its citizens to hand in ‘under the mattress’ gold in its latest scheme to prop up the value of its national currency, the lira. But according to some, the country would have been much better off had it just embraced bitcoin (BTC).

El Salvador, the first country to legalize Bitcoin as a currency has maintained undeterred relations with Bitcoin. Over the years, the country has faced a countless number of critics for holding and acquiring BTC. In fact, the country’s finance ministerAlejandro Zelaya planned to issue its first “bitcoin bond” in March. Reportedly, the bond is “totally ready” for issuance between 15-20 March..

Strike made headlines and captured the imagination of even non-crypto users when its API helped power Twitter’s venture to bring tips – and crypto tips – to people in selected jurisdictions. After about half a year, what’s the status on Strike’s rollout?

Bitso, a major Latin American cryptocurrency exchange and El Salvador’s crypto wallet assistant firm, has announced its formal launch in Colombia.

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.

El Salvador, the first nation to adopt Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender, has recently announced the relaunch of its wallet app Chivo, which is supposed to patch the previous version’s stability and scalability issues. The update is welcomed news for the Central American country’s crypto experiment, which faced some hurdles and harsh criticism over the last few months. While much of the observers’ attention has been focused on aspects such as retail adoption of crypto and geopolitical implications of Bitcoin’s legal status in El Salvador, the progress of the nation’s mining industry toward achieving President Bukele’s moonshot vision has been less discussed lately. Here’s what the current prospects of El Salvador’s mining industry look like.

An organization that supports communities in times of need employs the helping hands of crypto to open the doors for a “broader swath of philanthropists.”

El Salvador is planning to issue its first bitcoin bond next month, the Central American country's Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya announced.

El Salvador faces another whipping from a traditional finance firm for its "forbidden" love for Bitcoin (BTC). 

El Salvador could be set to unveil its much-talked-about bitcoin (BTC) bond offerings as early as next month – and could also unveil new bitcoin loan offerings for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and micro-industries.

Following an exponential climb in capacity over 2022, the Bitcoin (BTC) Lightning Network made a lackluster start to the new year. According to a report by Arcane Research, growth in the Lightning Network capacity, or the number of BTC locked up in channels, has stuttered. 

The Russian cabinet has reportedly thrashed out an agreement with the Central Bank on the matter of cryptoassets. Widespread media reports from the likes of Kommersant, as well as CNet explained that the agreement would see a draft law rolled out by February 18.

A state-owned bank in El Salvador has reportedly handed out a crypto firm a loan of over USD 1.5m – accepting 200 bitcoin (BTC) ATMs as collateral.

Chinese tennis player Peng Shuai has told a French newspaper that international concern over her well-being is based on “an enormous misunderstanding” and she denied having accused a high-ranking Chinese official of sexual assault.

The government of El Salvador on Monday rejected a recommendation by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to drop Bitcoin as legal tender in the Central American country.

On Jan. 25, the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) directors asked El Salvador to “narrow the scope” of its Bitcoin Law by “removing Bitcoin’s legal tender status.” Adopting a cryptocurrency as the Central American country has done “entails large risks for financial and market integrity, financial stability and consumer protection,” the fund wrote.

Major peer-to-peer (P2P) Bitcoin (BTC) platform Paxful is working to help Salvadorans better use BTC as the cryptocurrency became legal tender in El Salvador last year.

Get your daily, bite-sized digest of cryptoasset and blockchain-related news – investigating the stories flying under the radar of today’s crypto news.