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Making Bitcoin Legal Tender in El Salvador an 'Interesting Experiment,' Central Banking Official Says

At the same time, the BIS executive cast doubts on the cryptocurrency as a "means of payment."

By Tanzeel Akhtar
AccessTimeIconJun 11, 2021 at 12:40 p.m. UTC
Updated Sep 14, 2021 at 1:10 p.m. UTC
BIS headquarters in Basil, Switzerland.
BIS headquarters in Basil, Switzerland.
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Benoit Coeure, the head of the innovation hub at the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), an organization owned by central banks across the world, said El Salvador’s move to adopt bitcoin as legal tender is an interesting experiment, according to a report.

  • "El Salvador, that is an interesting experiment indeed," Coeure said at the launch of a regulatory research hub at the Bank of England on Friday, Reuters reports.
  • "We have been clear at the BIS that we don't see bitcoin as having passed the test of being a means of payments. Bitcoin is a speculative asset and should be regulated as such," Coeure said.
  • El Salvador became the first nation in the world to recognize bitcoin as legal tender and mandate that all businesses in the country accept it as payment.
  • On Tuesday, a supermajority of the nation’s legislature voted in favor of President Nayib Bukele’s proposal for the nation to adopt bitcoin.
  • The BIS executive is the latest to express concern about the Latin American country’s decision to adopt bitcoin as legal tender.
  • On Thursday, International Monetary Fund spokesman Gerry Rice said El Salvador's plan to adopt bitcoin as legal tender raises "macroeconomic, financial and legal issues."

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