TL;DR Breakdown
- Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has announced his desire to grant citizenship to international investors who invest in the small Central American nation.
- The 52 proposed legal changes aim to reduce bureaucracy and red tape, making El Salvador one of the most freedom-centric nations.
- El Salvador is becoming a cryptocurrency haven.
On Sunday, President Nayib tweeted that he was delivering a list of 52 legal changes to Congress. The El Salvadoran President has suggested giving citizenship to investors who put money into the small Central American country.
President Nayib newest gamble
The latest tweet marks another step in President Nayib’s plan to boost the country’s economy. The strategy includes attracting non-traditional money amid accusations that his ideas would destabilize El Salvador.
In January 2022, the IMF urged El Salvador to cease using Bitcoin as legal tender. According to the IMF’s executive board, the usage of Bitcoin poses significant risks to financial stability, financial integrity, and consumer protection, as well as fiscal contingent liabilities.
Additionally, a bipartisan group of senators in the United States proposed a bill to reduce the risks posed by El Salvador’s decision to legalize Bitcoin. Last week, Sen. Bill (R-La.) declared that Bitcoin adoption “opens the door for money laundering rings and jeopardizes US interests.” The statement prompted President Nayib of El Salvador to inform the United States that it has “zero jurisdictions” to regulate El Salvador.
Bukele called for the reduction of red tape, better management, tax incentives, and most significantly, providing citizenship to international investors interested in investing in the country. President Bukele promises that his plan will provide a haven for financial freedom while the rest of the world falls into tyranny.
President Nayib’s embrace of Bitcoin has earned him a social media following and crypto enthusiasts’ support, but it has also made him an international political lightning rod. However, he did not clarify whether the measures would be limited to bitcoin-related businesses in his recent endeavors.
El Salvador becomes a crypto hub by the day
The citizenship plan makes El Salvador one of the first countries to let foreigners acquire citizenship on an investment basis. The move follows Turkey, Malta, and several other nations in the Caribbean.
In September 2021, El Salvador became the first to legalize Bitcoin as a legal currency. Bukele revealed in January 2022 that he bought $15 million worth of Bitcoin with state money during the crypto winter. El Salvador’s overall Bitcoin holdings are worth $69 million at the time of writing this article. The country currently has 1,801 Bitcoins in its possession.
According to a Cryptopolitan news report, Nayib plans to issue one billion Bitcoin bonds in March. Additionally, El Salvador intends to produce another $5 billion in cryptocurrency bonds the next month after that. The bond offering aims to raise money to develop a “Bitcoin City” project and buy more cryptocurrencies.
Despite the international crypto disputes, according to 2021 statistics, the country grew by more than 10% GDP for the first time in its history.
