Businesses That Refuse Bitcoin Will Face Sanctions In El Salvador
A top member of El Salvador’s current cabinet, Javier Argueta, revealed that merchants that deny people their services because they want to use Bitcoin or El Salvador’s Bitcoin wallet would be punished. He made this disclosure in a recent interview that this is per the consumer protection policy.
A Member Of The Government Contradicts The President Assertions
Strangely, Argueta’s revelations contradict a Twitter thread in the last week of last month by the country’s president where he reiterated that businesses could choose not to allow Bitcoin transactions. President Bukele firmly stated that “businesses can continue to conduct their transactions in cash. They are the ones to lose out on exposing their businesses to more customers, which will hinder their growth.”
Hence, one member of the opposite party told the media that the contradiction from government officials indicates that the government is lying. Following a proposal submitted to El Salvador’s legislature by its members on June 7 by the president, the members promptly approved it the next day. However, there were several criticisms of the proposal, most of which was on the part of the bill which made it mandatory for the businesses to accept Bitcoin payments.
Asides from the opposition, a new survey revealed that 71% of the citizens want that part of the bill removed. Also, 98% of them prefer that president Bukele allow all merchants to conduct their businesses as they deem fit. The survey also revealed that a few citizens are opposed to the legal adoption of Bitcoin in the country.
El Salvador Now Holds 400 BTC
Following president Bukele’s announcement that the country now holds 400 BTC, Bitcoin’s global adoption rose to higher levels. The president revealed today via Twitter; he also revealed that they had previously held 200 BTC before buying 200 more today. Meanwhile, congratulatory messages have started pouring in for the country.
A top executive of the Huobi exchange said, “I congratulate all El Salvadorans on this historic feat.” Even though it has been officially announced that $150m is available for USD to Bitcoin conversion, many still doubt how the country will deal with the price volatility associated with the cryptocurrency.
BTC Price Reacts Positively
This news from El Salvador positively affected the price of the king coin. It achieved a multi-month high to trade at over $52K. Also, Bitcoin’s market cap surged to $10B shy of $1 trillion. Bitcoin price has been on a rally in the past week, rising by 13% in that period. Consequently, its market dominance rose to about 43% of the entire market cap of all virtual assets.
Various businesses continue to associate their businesses with Bitcoin. Recently, the third-richest man in Mexico announced that his retail store chains globally would soon start accepting Bitcoin payments.
Also, institutional investors are increasing their BTC holdings regularly. Microstrategy (an asset management firm) and Tesla (popular electric car manufacturers) announced that they had increased their Bitcoin portfolio in the first half of the year.
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