While some countries are taking baby steps and treading carefully when it comes to Bitcoin some countries are all in and even made the most famous cryptocurrency a legal tender. The good thing about cryptocurrency is, it is not controlled by centralized entities, and it is everybody's pie with the same set of rules applying to everyone. It is due to this flexibility that governments are still having headaches about cryptocurrency as they fear that it will destabilize the global monetary system, cause liquidity and taxations issues etc. But El Salvador and Central African Republic have already passed these hurdles and adopted Bitcoin to be legal tender in their countries.
El Salvador (a Central American country) certified Bitcoin as legal tender in September 2021. This country made history with this move as they became the first country in the world to make Bitcoin legal tender. They reasoned Bitcoin is stable for attracting foreign investment, it would create new jobs and cut off the country's reliance on the US dollar in its economic activities. Seventeen (17) months after the adoption of cryptocurrency in El Salvador, things are looking out for the country, as they managed to build schools and hospitals using profits from Bitcoin. Even though, at first, they faced pressure from the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund for making Bitcoin legal tender, as of 2023, the International Monetary Fund comments that the use of Bitcoin in El Salvador has not taken an ugly turn because El Salvador has limited the use of Bitcoin but still they urge the country to reconsider its decision of making Bitcoin legal tender.
The second country to follow in the footsteps of El Salvador is the Central African Republic, which made Bitcoin legal tender in April 2022. The president of the country announced that they were adopting Bitcoin as legal tender to secure the country's financial future, as the country is ranked as one of the poorest in the world. This decision by the Central African Republic caused much debate by the international community on whether the adoption of Bitcoin is the right move. The country has faced civil wars for over 10 years which has affected the country's development as a result they are reported to have unreliable electricity supplies and in a 2020 census 9 out of 10 of its citizens do not have access to the internet, all these are needed to successfully use Bitcoin and facilitate widespread use within the country. Making Bitcoin an official currency can have massive benefits but due to the mentioned issues, the country might fail to reap the full benefits of making Bitcoin legal tender. However, if you are a tourist with the currency in your wallet, you will enjoy the convenience of paying in the local currency, foreign currency as well as cryptocurrency.
Why the Central African Republic adopted Bitcoin https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-61565485
