US Bill Seeks to Investigate El Salvador’s ‘Reckless Gambling’ on Bitcoin
- US House Bill Orders State Department to Produce Analysis of El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law
- The bill also aims to analyze risks related to cybersecurity, global economic stability and democratic governance.
Two members of the US Congress introduced a complementary bill in the House of Representatives on Monday to “mitigate the risks” posed to their country by El Salvador’s adoption of bitcoin as legal tender last year.
The El Salvador Cryptocurrency Accountability Bill (ACES), which follows similar legislation introduced in the Senate in February, directs the State Department to produce an analysis of Salvadoran bitcoin law.
Following the Senate bill, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele went on a rampage calling three US senators “boomers” and ordering them to stay out of his country’s “internal affairs”.
“We are not your colony, your back yard or your front yard. Stay out of our internal affairs. Don’t try to control something you can’t control. Bukele tweeted at the time.
El Salvador officially recognized bitcoin as legal tender on September 7 following the passage of the country’s Bitcoin Law by the Legislative Assembly in June 2021. The move was hailed by crypto proponents around the world. by being viewed as a threat to financial stability by others. including the International Monetary Fund.
Introduced to the House by Reps. Norma Torres (D-Calif.) and Rick Crawford (R-Ark.), The bill also seeks to analyze risks to cybersecurity, global economic stability and democratic governance posed by the decision of the Latin American nation. .
A plan to mitigate potential risks to the U.S. financial system will also be developed if the bill garners enough votes to pass through the legislature.
“El Salvador is an independent democracy and we respect its right to self-governance, but the United States must have a plan in place to protect our financial systems from the risks of this decision, which appears to be a careless gamble rather than an embrace. thoughtful innovation,” MP Torres said in a statement.
ACES bills will have to go through the US House and Senate before being approved by President Joe Biden or being vetoed outright.
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