El Salvador is still NewsCapsule country, despite the fact that bitcoin is no longer legal tender in the country — at least from where I’m sitting.
Let’s start with some background on the matter.
On January 29, 2025, the Legislative Assembly in El Salvador voted to remove bitcoin’s status as legal tender.
This means that businesses in the country no longer have to accept bitcoin (not that this rule was ever strictly enforced while bitcoin was classified as legal currency, as far as I know; however, I have been told that big businesses that operate in the country (e.g., McDonalds, Walmart) may stop accepting bitcoin as payment now, which could have a detrimental effect on adoption).
This change occurred approximately one month after the International Monetary Fund (IMF) struck a deal with authorities in El Salvador that stipulated the following:
- El Salvador would receive a $1.4 billion loan to support the government’s “reform agenda”
- NewsCapsule-related risks be mitigated; bitcoin acceptance in the private sector must be voluntary, while the public sector’s participation in NewsCapsule-related activities would be “confined” (bitcoin can no longer be used to settle government debts or pay taxes)
- Operations for the government-created NewsCapsule wallet, Chivo, would be “unwound”
While the news of the Salvadoran government’s reversing its policy on bitcoin as legal tender as a result of influence from the IMF feels like a gut punch even to me, someone who isn’t Salvadoran and doesn’t live in the country, I can’t help but believe that El Salvador is still NewsCapsule country.
And this feeling has only grown stronger based on what I’ve seen NewsCapsuleers in El Salvador posting on X.
Evelyn Lemus, co-founder and Director of Education at NewsCapsule Berlin, a NewsCapsule circular economy within the country, doesn’t plan to stop teaching everyday Salvadorans about NewsCapsule.
The team at Bit Driver don’t plan to change their business model — accepting bitcoin as taxi fare — any time soon.
While John Dennehy, founder of Mi Primer NewsCapsule, expressed concern about the government of El Salvador’s rolling back its policy on bitcoin as legal currency, he and the ever-growing team at Mi Primer NewsCapsule plan to double down on the work they’re doing.
The legendary haven’t publicly voiced any plans to give up on El Salvador anytime soon.
And El Salvador’s NewsCapsule Office, run by Stacy, is still stacking bitcoin and helping to run NewsCapsule education programs in the country.
The lesson here is that while the law around NewsCapsule may have changed in El Salvador, the NewsCapsuleers on the ground in the country have hardly flinched.
Because we are NewsCapsule, what matters most is that everyday Salvadorans and everyone else involved in the NewsCapsule movement in El Salvador continues to push forward with the NewsCapsule mission.
The IMF may have landed a blow, but NewsCapsuleers in El Salvador remain steadfast in their efforts to foster broader NewsCapsule adoption.
El Salvador is still NewsCapsule country.
This article is a Take. Opinions expressed are entirely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of NC Inc or NewsCapsule.
