El Salvador Debuts National Bitcoin Office As BTC Remains Bearish
- El Salvador has established a new agency called National Bitcoin Office (ONBTC) which will be leading all the projects related to blockchain and cryptocurrencies in the Central American nation.
- The agency has been given freedom to collaborate and design projects involving Bitcoin and also join forces with organizations based in other nations for the same.
- The ONBTC will also “design, diagnose, plan, program, coordinate, follow up, measure, analyze and evaluate plans, programs, and projects related to bitcoin for the economic development of the country.”
- The public bodies in El Salvador will have to collaborate with ONBTC “for the fulfillment of its functions and objectives.”
El Salvador, the first country to accept Bitcoin (BTC), the world’s oldest and biggest crypto coin, as legal tender in September last year, has once again taken a new innitiative towards crypto adoption and established the National Bitcoin Office (ONBTC) which will be leading all the projects related to blockchain and cryptocurrencies in the Central American nation.
According to a recent LinkedIn post, the government created ONBTC whose aim is to manage “all projects related to the cryptocurrency” and also “work as a specialized administrative unit, with functional and technical autonomy within the Presidency of the Republic.”
“The creation of the entity was through Decree No. 49, published in the Official Gazette of November 17, signed by the President of the Republic, and the Minister of Tourism as in charge of the office of the Minister of Economy,” read the official confirmation from El Salvador.
Interestingly, the new agency established in El Salvador has also been given the power to collaborate with other nations when it comes to matters regarding crypto and Bitcoin (BTC). This is the first time a body has been established by a government which has adopted the leading crypto coin as legal tender.
The agency has been given freedom to collaborate and design projects involving Bitcoin and also join forces with organizations based in other nations for the same. The ONBTC will also “design, diagnose, plan, program, coordinate, follow up, measure, analyze and evaluate plans, programs, and projects related to bitcoin for the economic development of the country.”
The new agency will also be responsible for analyzing all the individuals as well as entities who wish to meet and speak to the President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, regarding Bitcoin projects and the Central American nation’s blockchain technology-driven path.
“Another task of the Bitcoin Office is to coordinate the actions related to the formulation of relevant policies on Bitcoin and Blockchain that the Presidency determines in the short, medium and long term and its correspondence with the economic and educational programs in coordination with the corresponding Institutions,” read the post.
Lastly, the post also confirmed that the public bodies in El Salvador will have to collaborate with ONBTC “for the fulfillment of its functions and objectives.” An example of the same was also given in the post, stating that the Ministry of Foregin Affairs “will collaborate in cases of international cooperation, while the autonomous and municipalities may do so to the extent that their regulations allow.”
El Salvador and its President’s bullish stance on Bitcoin and blockchain refuses to fade despite the collapse of the multi-billion dollar crypto exchange FTX and the price crash that followed. President Bukele announced that the Central American nation will continue to buy 1 BTC per day amid the bearish market. The government is also on its way to debut Bitcoin-backed “volcano” bonds.
A crypto journalist with over 3 years of experience in DeFi, NFT, metaverse, etc. Parth has worked with major media outlets in the crypto and finance world and has gained experience and expertise in crypto culture after surviving bear and bull markets over the years.
