El Salvador’s legislative body passed a law early Wednesday that will make the nation the first in the world to deem bitcoin legal tender.
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele said the nation has adopted Bitcoin as legal tender, a step he believes will create jobs and promote financial inclusion.
Bukele, Latin America’s youngest president who’s known to break from the norms, said on Twitter lawmakers approved the legislation by a “supermajority.”
The 39-year-old leader has previously said that Bitcoin could boost the economy, help counter El Salvador’s low banking penetration rate and facilitate faster transfers for $6 billion of remittances a year.
Bitcoin climbed 2.5% to about $34,500 as of 8:05 a.m. in London on Wednesday, reversing earlier losses. The wider Bloomberg Galaxy Crypto Index increased about 3%.
