FX.co ★ El Salvador major banks to accept BTC debt payments

El Salvador's leading banks, Cuscatlan and Agricola, have agreed to accept bitcoins to repay loans, according to Volcano Energy, a company that operates mining data centers in El Salvador. Customers can pay their debts in BTC without converting it to fiat currency. Meanwhile, Cuscatlan and Agricola stressed that the repayment of loans in Bitcoins was relevant for consumer loans and credit cards. In addition, the digital asset can be used as collateral for mortgages. In September 2021, El Salvador became the first country to legalize Bitcoin as a means of payment. Since then, the government has invested in the cryptocurrency. A year later, the majority of El Salvador’s population voted against spending the state budget on such investments. In addition, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) refrained from giving El Salvador a loan because of BTC’s legal status in the country. On November 18, 2022, El Salvador authorities began buying 1 BTC every day. The National Bitcoin Office was created to manage crypto projects. Later, Salvadoran authorities opened a Bitcoin embassy in Texas (US), and the IMF suggested that the state abandon its investment in BTC. In March 2023, President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele said that tourist traffic to the country doubled after the legalization of Bitcoin. The first legal cryptocurrency exchange in El Salvador was Bitfinex, which previously implemented a charity program to help local businesses. In June 2023, Tether, a subsidiary of iFinex, which also includes Bitfinex, invested in the construction of a mining farm in El Salvador. The facility cost $1 billion. The 241-megawatt mine, a joint project with Volcano Energy, will be powered by renewable energy.