If that law receives approval, the US State Department must deliver a report to Congress within 60 days. Bukele stressed that US senators have no jurisdiction to meddle in the internal affairs of the Central American country.
Some US senators recently submitted an initiative to develop actions to protect their country from the risks of Bitcoin adoption in El Salvador. The Central American president, Nayib Bukele, reacted angrily against the above proposal on Twitter.
Bukele told the US legislators that El Salvador was not a colony, backyard, or front yard of the United States. The head of state criticized their initiative to interfere in internal affairs.
The president stressed that the US senators have no jurisdiction in El Salvador and cannot control the national policy. He said they should not try to control something they cannot control.
The post by Bukele has received more than 20 thousand likes, and around 6,000 people have shared it.
After the Salvadoran president announced the Bitcoin law in 2021, US officials recommended an effective regulation to prevent risks. However, they found obstacles in the bilateral relationship at the end of the year.
The pioneering cryptocurrency became legal tender in El Salvador on September 7th, 2021. Since then, Nayib Bukele has announced several purchases of BTC, the creation of Bitcoin City, and the issuance of bonds in Bitcoin.
The Senators Fear the US Dollar Will Lose Its Role as the World Reserve Currency
Jim Risch, Bob Menéndez, and Bill Cassidy, members of the US High House, were the senators that submitted the bill. According to the official statements, the senators claim that the adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender in El Salvador poses risks for the United States.
Risch said that the adoption of Bitcoin in El Salvador raises significant concerns about the financial stability and integrity of vulnerable US trading partners. He also believes that it involves the evasion of sanctions by actors using Bitcoin to commit crimes.
Cassidy considers the Spanish American country opens the door to money laundering, undermining the interests of the United States. For example, he expressed his fear that the US dollar would lose its role as the world reserve currency.
The bill Accountability for Cryptocurrency in El Salvador (ACES) Act requires the US State Department to report on Bitcoin adoption in that country. The text should include an analysis of the Bitcoin Law and the capacities of El Salvador to face cybersecurity, macroeconomic, and democratic stability risks.
The senators also want to know how Bitcoin adoption has impacted bilateral trade relations between both countries. They show particular concern about the flow of remittances and the potential reduction in the use of the US dollar in El Salvador. If the ACES Act receives approval, the Secretary of State must deliver the report to Congress within 60 days.
That law would also involve developing a plan to reduce the risks to the US financial system posed by Bitcoin adoption as legal tender. That would apply to El Salvador and other countries that use the US dollar as an official currency in their economies. They would have to submit that plan would have to be presented 90 days after the approval of the initial report.
By Alexander Salazar
