Under pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and due to economic realities, El Salvador quietly abolished Bitcoin's legal tender status, marking a major turning point in the country's "Bitcoin experiment." (Previous: El Salvador’s President’s new plan: Every household in the country will install a Bitcoin mining node, and the cost is exclusively revealed) (Background supplement: El Salvador took a loan to continue to increase its holdings of 12 Bitcoins, ignoring the agreement with the IMF) Driven by Nayib Bukele, El Salvador became the first country in the world to list Bitcoin as legal tender in September 2021. Now, it has become the first country to abandon this practice. According to the Spanish National Daily, the parliament controlled by the ruling party recently passed an amendment to the (Bitcoin Law) in a low-key manner, officially abolishing the legal currency status of Bitcoin and making it usable It all depends on the user's wishes. Bitcoin is no longer considered a currency, and its use becomes voluntary. The report points out that this decision was made under the pressure of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for nearly two years. The IMF asked the Salvadoran government to "reduce the use of Bitcoin". The government faces "risk" as a condition of approving a $1.4 billion credit line that President Nayib Bukele badly needs, with the government having to complete legal amendments by the end of January to access the funds. This amendment revised 6 clauses and abolished 3 original key clauses. It has only been three years since the (Bitcoin Law) came into effect in September 2021. However, after the new bill comes into effect, Bitcoin will no longer be Treated as currency, the requirement for merchants to accept Bitcoin has been changed from mandatory to voluntary, and Bitcoin cannot be used to pay taxes. Although the government was forced to make these changes, Buglei has remained silent on the matter and has not made any comments on the X platform or in the media. Public acceptance is low, and the government has invested 200 million to promote it, but it is still difficult to popularize it. When the Salvadoran government first pushed for Bitcoin law, public opinion surveys showed that 71% of the people were opposed to it. However, the government still invested more than 200 million US dollars in building the Bitcoin infrastructure. Facilities, including the development of the official digital wallet "Chivo Wallet" and the installation of Bitcoin ATMs across the country. In addition, in order to encourage the public to use Bitcoin, the government gave each user who downloaded the official wallet a $30 reward. However, this policy not only failed to increase the popularity of Bitcoin, but also triggered large-scale fraud. Some criminals forged A large number of fake accounts were created under different identities in an attempt to claim a $30 reward from the government. However, after the policy was implemented, usage was far below expectations. According to data from Ludop, a well-known El Salvadorian polling organization, one year after the policy was implemented, only 21% of citizens had used official wallets, and by 2024, this proportion had further dropped to 8.1%. Bitcoin has not brought economic prosperity, but has increased the number of poor people. The Bugre government once promised that the adoption of Bitcoin would bring "economic prosperity and financial freedom" and tried to build El Salvador into a "Bitcoin country." Despite the continued increase in purchases of Bitcoin, the actual policy situation is quite different. A survey at the end of 2022 showed that 91.7% of the people believed that the economic situation had not improved, or even deteriorated. By mid-2024, research from the Central Bank of El Salvador found that the country’s poverty population had increased by 55,000 from the previous year, further proving that the Bitcoin policy had not delivered the economic growth the government had promised. This amendment marks a major concession by the Salvadoran government on Bitcoin policy, and also officially puts an end to the country's "Bitcoin experiment." Related reports: Accelerating the Bitcoin Kingdom) El Salvador promotes the "Technology Innovation Law", software, semiconductor manufacturing, AI, etc. are tax-free for 15 years. El Salvador's cryptocurrency ATMs will be fully upgraded to the "Bitcoin Lightning Network". Will the public pay for it? El Salvador issues its first “Exchange License”! Bitfinex will cooperate in issuing Bitcoin Volcano Bonds "The Bitcoin Kingdom wakes up! El Salvador quietly amends the law and becomes the world's first country to abolish BTC legal currency" This article was first published in the dynamic zone BlockTempo (Dynamic Zone Trend - The most influential block (link news media).

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