Latam Insights: Salvadoran Government Introduces Bitcoin Banking Bill, Bitcoin to Compete With Other Currencies in Argentina
Welcome to Latam Insights, a compendium of Latin America’s most relevant crypto and economic news during the last week. In this issue: The Salvadoran government pushes a bitcoin banking bill, president Milei states bitcoin will compete with other currencies in Argentina, and the Wasabi Wallet lead dev declares that bitcoin developers “have failed” El Salvador.
Salvadoran Government Introduces Bitcoin Banking Law Reform
The Salvadoran government has introduced an initiative to reform the current banking law by introducing a new kind of bank that can lend bitcoin and crypto services.
The banking bill reform was presented to the Technology, Tourism, and Investment Commission of the National Assembly on June 13 including 14 new articles that define Private Investment Banks (PIB) as “an essential instrument at the international level that promotes economic development and facilitates the channeling of financial resources towards business and government projects.”
If passed, this initiative will allow the creation of these banks that can offer different services, including economic risk management, purchase of financial products, investment management, hedging, and other financial derivatives. These services will support any legal tender in El Salvador, like the U.S. dollar and bitcoin.
Javier Milei Reiterates Several Currencies, Including Bitcoin, Will Compete in Argentina
President Javier Milei took to social media to re-explain the currency plans for Argentina. Answering a post mentioning bitcoin, Milei stated that anyone wishing to use bitcoin will be able to do so, given that there will be currency competition in the country. “You can also use other units such as WTI, BTU, and the one most appropriate for your business,” he stressed. To conclude, Milei stated that accounting problems derived from this regime can be easily solved using the functional currency model. Before, Milei had revealed plans to penalize currency issuance with jail time and dollarize the Argentine economy, one of his banner proposals during his campaign.
Wasabi Wallet Lead Developer: ‘Bitcoin Developers Are Failing El Salvador’
Adam Ficsor, the lead developer of Wasabi Wallet, has acknowledged the problems Bitcoin presents when being used as a medium of exchange. In a recent interview with a Salvadoran dentist who assessed Bitcoin adoption was going slow in the nation, Ficsor recognized that bitcoin has still a long way to go in the medium of exchange field. He stated:
It’s not that El Salvador isn’t ready for Bitcoin. It’s Bitcoin isn’t ready for El Salvador. It’s us Bitcoin developers who are failing you guys.
Ficsor explained that, unlike in the store of value field, where bitcoin excels, developers have failed to streamline bitcoin’s payment user experience. He mentioned that even using Lightning Network, this experience was not as smooth as it should be.
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