El Salvador to Create $150M Bitcoin Trust to Facilitate Exchange to US Dollars

The trust will instantly convert bitcoin to dollars, allowing local merchants to offset their exposure to bitcoin.

AccessTimeIconAug 31, 2021 at 3:18 p.m. UTC
Updated May 11, 2023 at 4:13 p.m. UTC
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El Salvador’s government has agreed to create a $150 million bitcoin trust to facilitate exchange between bitcoin and U.S. dollars in the country, according to a report by local newspaper El Diario de Hoy.

  • El Salvador’s Minister of Economy, María Luisa Hayém Brevé, said there is a possibility of increasing the initial $150 million allocation, which was agreed to on Monday by the deputies of the Finance Commission of the Legislative Assembly.
  • In June, El Salvador passed a bill that treats bitcoin as legal tender alongside the U.S. dollar. The bill goes into effect Sept. 7 and will require businesses to accept payment in bitcoin, although the country’s president and finance minister said businesses that did not would not be penalized.
  • The trust will be set up at the Development Bank of El Salvador and allow merchants to instantly convert bitcoin into U.S. dollars, offsetting their risk.

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Tanzeel Akhtar

Tanzeel Akhtar is a reporter based in London,UK.


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