IMG-1692As the first country in the world, the Republic of El Salvador introduced Bitcoin as legal tender. The International Monetary Fund sees this as a threat to financial stability and is putting pressure on the Government in San Salvador to withdraw that decision
The Republic of El Salvador is the smallest and, with just under 6 million inhabitants, the most densely populated country in Central America. It was the first country in the world to introduce cryptocurrency as legal tender in September last year.
On Tuesday, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) appealed to the Government of San Salvador to withdraw bitcoin as an official currency because it "poses a great risk to financial stability, financial integrity, consumer protection and the tax system". The IMF has been warning about the huge swings of cryptocurrency for a long time.
With a digital payment method, what is the Salvadoran electronic wallet chivo, it is possible to encourage financial inclusion, warns the IMF, but the economic environment in which chivo and bitcoin circulate would have to be strictly controlled.
The reason for this reaction was a loan in the amount of 1,3 billion dollars, which El Salvador has been negotiating with the IMF for a long time.
According to the Salvadoran cryptocurrency law, any merchant who has the technical capabilities to do so is obliged to accept bitcoin as a means of payment. And tax can be paid in cryptocurrency.
Salvadoran President Najib Bukele announced in November the construction of the world's first bitcoin city that would be financed exclusively by bitcoin bonds. The city should grow in the La Union area in the east of the country in the Gulf of Fonseca where the Conchagua volcano is located. Bukele explained that the possibility of using the thermal energy of the volcano in the Bitcoin city is being investigated.
In a "totally ecological" bitcoin city, there would be no contribution tax, Bukele said during the campaign to attract investors. The president was dressed all in white and, as usual, had an upside-down cap on his head.
Since it is not subject to financial control, bitcoin is considered an ideal currency for illegal transactions and is subject to financial speculation and large fluctuations. On Tuesday, one bitcoin was worth $37.000, and in November last year it was a record $68.000.
JH/Spiegel
Read daily news, analysis, commentary and interviews at www.vreme.com
A group of individuals has created two websites where public procurement of the Telecom and IT sectors can be searched and compared. They invite the media, experts and citizens to review the documentation and submit reasoned observations
Very soon it could become obvious whether Milan Radoičić has left Serbia or not
The hospital formed a commission for an extraordinary expert check and informed the health inspection. Cases of death during childbirth in Serbia rarely receive a judicial epilogue.
Two unions of public services supported the request of FDU students for information about RTS employees, since claims appeared in the public that it was a request for "files". The students say they are looking for "public truth about public service."
Among those pardoned is the man who attacked a citizen who came to ask about the street in the office of the mayor of Kosjerić in April. The pardon applies only to one of the two offenses, and the injured party announces a constitutional appeal.
At the moment when the institutions of the Republic are destroyed, when Vučić's octopus is still alive, when people are disgusted by the injustice and the stench left behind by the Essenes regime, we have, as Machiavelli said, only civic virtue as the fuel with which we can return to the beginning
The four independent members of REM are an example of perseverance and civic responsibility. Rodoljub Šabić even, upon leaving the premises of REM, after the sentencing of the Informer, experienced that the Essenes insulted him, hit him with their hands and feet. But that too will soon be over
Vučić pardoned the batterers and Dijana Hrkalović. The election winners should abolish the sultan's power that allows one man to run afoul of the entire judicial system
Interview: Branko Stamenković, public prosecutor of the Supreme Public Prosecutor's Office
A black picture and the breakdown of the rule of law subscribeThe archive of the weekly Vreme includes all our digital editions, since the very beginning of our work. All issues can be downloaded in PDF format, by purchasing the digital edition, or you can read all available texts from the selected issue.
See all
