Aaron Van Wirdum of Bitcoin Magazine reports that the IMF has reached a $1.4 billion loan deal with El Salvador. In return, the Central American country had to remove some of its pro-Bitcoin policies. Van Wirdum spent three months in El Salvador around the time the Bitcoin law went into effect. He initially viewed it as a positive development for the country, but he disliked some aspects of the law.
Now, those aspects are being removed. Most importantly, Salvadoran merchants will no longer be obligated to accept bitcoin. Van Wirdum believes that Bitcoin adoption should happen voluntarily and should not be forced on anyone. Additionally, El Salvador will have to wind down operations of its Chivo wallet.
Van Wirdum notes that the wallet was buggy in 2021 and that the open source community and free market are better suited for building such tools. While it is slightly disappointing that Salvadoran citizens won’t be able to pay tax in bitcoin anymore, Van Wirdum believes that this change is probably just a nuisance.
Now, bitcoin-accepting merchants need to sell some of their BTC for USD before paying the taxman. Van Wirdum concludes that El Salvador still goes a long way to offer an equal playing field for Bitcoin.
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