Some of the world’s most widely-recognized brand names are quickly adapting to Bitcoin’s new status as legal tender in El Salvador.
Both Starbucks and McDonald’s locations are now accepting BTC in the country.
El Salvador’s Bitcoin reserves have more than doubled as the law granting the flagship cryptocurrency legal tender status in the Central American country goes into effect.
On Tuesday, President Nayib Bukele told his 2.8 million Twitter followers that El Salvador purchased 200 Bitcoin, worth over $9.45 million at time of writing.
“El Salvador just bought 200 new coins. We now hold 400 Bitcoin”
Hours later, as the king crypto corrected to a 30-day low at around $43,000, Bukele revealed that El Salvador made another BTC purchase to bring the country’s total holdings to 550 Bitcoin, worth over $26 million.
“Buying the dip. 150 new coins added.”
El Salvador’s recent BTC purchases come as the country makes history, officially recognizing Bitcoin as legal tender alongside the US dollar.
Amid the formal adoption of BTC, Bukele called for patience as he said the process will take time.
“Like all innovation, the process of Bitcoin in El Salvador has a learning curve. Every road to the future is like this and not everything will be achieved in a day, or in a month.
But we must break the paradigms of the past. El Salvador has the right to advance towards the first world.”
Late last month, El Salvador’s legislative assembly endorsed a $150 million Bitcoin trust. The multi-million dollar Bitcoin trust will, among other things, will facilitate the exchange of BTC to the US dollar. Some of the funds from the trust will also be used to build Bitcoin teller machines and financing mass education on the flagship cryptocurrency.
Ahead of the September 7th unveiling of Bitcoin as legal tender, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank criticized the move. Some Salvadorans also staged street rallies to voice their opposition against the adoption of BTC as legal tender.
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