Bipartisan Senate Proposal Warns El Salvador for Bitcoin Adoption

Senators Jim Risch, Bob Menendez, and Bill Cassidy’s El Salvador Accountability for Cryptocurrency (ACES) Act would require the State Department to submit a report on mitigating risks to the U.S. financial system posed by El Salvador’s adoption of bitcoin as legal tender. El Salvador’s admission that Bitcoin (BTC) as the official currency opens the door for money laundering to the detriment of U.S. interests, Cassidy said. If the United States wants to fight money laundering and preserve the dollar's role as the world's reserve currency, we must address this problem head-on. If passed, the bill would require the State Department to report on a range of topics related to El Salvador and bitcoin, including remittance flows from the U.S. to El Salvador, bilateral and international efforts to combat illicit activities across borders, and El Salvador’s potential to reduce the use of green coins. The legislation quickly drew strong condemnation from El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele.