President Bukele plans to build the world’s first ‘Bitcoin City’ using bitcoin-backed bonds, which will rely on betting big on the cryptocurrency’s future.
The city will be circular, with an airport, residential and commercial areas, and feature a central plaza designed to look like a bitcoin symbol from the air.
Thousands of people in El Salvador took to the streets on Sunday to air a range of complaints against President Nayib Bukele, from adopting bitcoin as legal tender to firing Supreme Court judges, viewed by critics as a power grab.
The Bukele government believes bitcoin can provide monetary sovereignty and financial inclusion to millions. But many Salvadorians remain skeptical about the move.
The law would create mechanisms to help Salvadorans, especially small businesses, quickly convert payments they receive in bitcoins into dollars.
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele said that he will send a bill to Congress next week to make bitcoin legal tender in the Central American nation, touting its potential to help Salvadorans living abroad send remittances home.
Nayib Bukele, 39, is a harsh critic of El Salvador's traditional parties, who he accuses of abandoning the victims of the country's 1980-92 civil war.
The global coronavirus pandemic has affected almost 5 million people, with around 320,000 deaths. Here are more coronavirus-related updates for May 19:
Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has given Nicolas Maduro's diplomatic corps two days to leave the country. But he hasn't entirely closed the door to Venezuelan representation.
The telegenic Bukele, 37, was elected in February to succeed Salvador Sanchez Ceren, a leftist former guerrilla who maintained close relations with his Nicaraguan and Venezuelan counterparts. Bukele has said he will seek closer ties with the US.
El Salvador Supreme Electoral Court says that with nearly 80 percent of ballots counted, Nayib Bukele had 53 percent of the votes.
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