Nayib Bukele's efforts to legalize crypto in El Salvador may be at risk after the US Senate issued a bill to assess the country’s financial stability.
El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele has been an outspoken crypto advocate for quite some time now, with the country accepting Bitcoin as a legal tender since early September of 2021. However, that might be in jeopardy due to the intervention of the US Senate.
According to the official post, US Senators Bill Cassidy, Jim Risch, and Bob Menendez introduced the bill named the Accountability for Cryptocurrency in El Salvador Act, or ACES in order to evaluate the potential dangers of legalizing Bitcoin in El Salvador.
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With the bill, the US Senate seeks to investigate El Salvador’s BTC laws, eliminate any threats related to criminal funding and money laundering due to El Salvador being Central America’s trade partner for the United States.
Based on the report, El Salvador will go under investigation for its capabilities to regulate cryptocurrencies so that they would not be subject to any risks of malicious activity, and the means by which the Bitcoin Law was introduced into the country.
Likewise, the US Senate wants to evaluate whether El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law complies with financial requirements, if it poses a threat to the country’s economy, and if it has the right tools and methodology to ensure the safety of cryptocurrencies such as emergency funds, blockchain security measures from potential hacks, and transaction transparency.
The bill would enable US authorities to evaluate El Salvador’s capabilities to manage Bitcoin as a legal tender, and ensure that proper cyber security measures are in place. They would have approximately two months to complete their investigation.
While the government of El Salvador has faced significant pressure from its own lawmakers, the president does not seem to be backing down. In fact, Nayib Bukele posted a tweet addressing the crypto bill proposed by the US Senate.
Earlier this month, US-based Bitcoin exchange Paxful launched an education center in El Salvador, while just last week, the rating credit agency Fitch Ratings lowered El Salvador’s long-term IDR.
