El Salvador's finance minister, Alejandro Zelaya,
said Tuesday that using bitcoin and a digital wallet will be "completely
voluntary," and that companies who refuse to accept the cryptocurrency
would not be sanctioned.
In a televised interview with journalist Moisés
Urbina on the show Frente a Frente, Zelaya said that the dollar would remain
the country's primary currency of reference, and that companies, the
government, and everyone else will use it for accounting.
Article 7 of the bitcoin legislation, which was
enacted in June, said that bitcoin must be accepted as a method of payment by
"any economic actor." Zelaya's remarks contradicted this.
When questioned whether it was essential to remove
that item, Zelaya inquired why and did not elaborate.
In a consultation document containing technical
requirements to assist the implementation of the bitcoin legislation, El
Salvador's Central Bank did not clarify things on Tuesday. Banks, cooperative
banks, and savings and credit societies "interested" in offering the
service of convertibility of dollars and bitcoin and vice versa will be
required to comply with these requirements, according to the draft.
The Central Bank of El Salvador specifies that
wallets must apply know-your-customer rules in another document titled
Guidelines for the Authorization of the Operation of the Digital Wallet
Platform for Bitcoin and Dollars.
“Clients of the digital wallet may be individuals and legal entities resident or not in the country that comply with the requirements and standards of know your customer and prevention of money and asset laundering, financing of terrorism, and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,” according to the document.
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