The bitcoin-loving nation of El Salvador has announced a new partnership with the state of Texas. Together, the two regions are planning to open what they’re calling a “bitcoin embassy” as a means of promoting use and increasing adoption.
El Salvador Forms BTC Partnership with Texas
El Salvador shocked the world in late 2021 when it announced plans to make BTC legal tender. It was the first country to do so. This meant people could go into any shop or business and purchase goods and services with bitcoin they way they would with USD, the fiat currency that El Salvador had long been dependent on.
The move was met with skepticism from some entities including the World Bank. The enterprise announced that it would not provide any aid with El Salvador’s bitcoin agenda, citing the digital currency as too volatile to be taken seriously. It also voiced its opinion that El Salvador was making a big mistake, and that it would live to regret its decision.
Oddly, it looked like many residents of the Central American country agreed. Upon bitcoin’s implementation as a digital form of payment, many residents of El Salvador took to the streets of the nation’s capital to riot and protest the decision made by Nayib Bukele, their president. Allegedly, they were fine using USD and wanted no part in what they felt was an asset tied to criminality and illicit transactions.
Nevertheless, those in charge have refused to turn their backs on bitcoin and listen to the haters. The nation has had BTC in place as a payment tool for close to two years now, and while there have certainly been hiccups along the way, the nation doesn’t seem to be in a terrible place at the time of writing.
Its newfound partnership with Texas will likely only boost its bitcoin agenda and give the asset further attention and thus price hikes, which will arguably serve the country well in the coming months and weeks.
Milena Mayorga – El Salvador’s ambassador to the U.S. – put out a tweet in mid-February saying the following:
The state of Texas, our new ally.
This Has Happened Before
The partnership makes sense given both Texas and El Salvador took part in more than $1.2 trillion worth of commercial transactions last year. It’s evident that both regions have a strong bond that cannot be broken and will likely only be enhanced through a mutual love of bitcoin and crypto.
This is not the first time El Salvador has joined hands with another region over bitcoin. This also occurred in late 2022 when the Central American country allied itself with Lugano, a city in the European nation of Switzerland. Lugano has developed a solid reputation as a crypto haven over the past few years.
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