El Faro, an investigative news organization, revealed that El Salvador’s administration was considering allowing its inhabitants to utilize a stablecoin in addition to Bitcoin.
El Salvador’s government is planning to develop a national cryptocurrency that customers will be able to use to pay for services.
El Faro obtained footage of private meetings in which the president of El Salvador’s brothers, who are not in the administration but frequently assist him, discuss plans to create a national US dollar stablecoin next year.
The cryptocurrency would be called the “Colón-Dollar,” a reference to the country’s previous currency, the Colón, which was replaced by the US dollar in 2001.
Based on the current report, the brothers claimed to be representing the president, which was based on documents obtained by El Faro. The development comes just weeks after the government of the Central American country unanimously adopted the president’s Bitcoin Law, which would make the original cryptocurrency legal cash and mandate all businesses to accept it as payment for goods and services by the end of the year.
A government spokeswoman told El Faro that the plans had been scrapped, but that they were still in the works, citing a “source involved with the negotiations.”
El Faro describes some of the talks that took place after President Bukele declared Bitcoin to be legal tender in the tiny Central American country in June. Officials from the government, as well as private companies.
The brothers also claimed that all cryptocurrencies in El Salvador should become legal tender. “But for it to happen, we need government infrastructure that is up to the challenge for what’s ahead,” Bukele’s brother, Ibrajim, told El Faro.
Last month, El Salvador became the first government in the world to recognize Bitcoin as legal cash. However, significant institutions like JP Morgan, US regulators, and even the World Bank have voiced concerns about the country’s Bitcoin legislation. In El Salvador, a poor and crime-ridden country, President Bukele is highly popular.
