(ORDO NEWS) — Malaysian authorities are considering making bitcoin legal tender. All this comes against the background of the economic problems of El Salvador, which last year “switched” to bitcoin.
Malaysian Deputy Communications and Multimedia Minister Zahidi Zainul Abidin said the country should accept bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as legal tender, Bloomberg reported . This proposal is currently being considered by officials.
At the same time, the minister notes that the final decision on this issue should be made by the Central Bank of Malaysia and the Securities Commission.
Where is bitcoin considered the official currency?
To date, El Salvador is the only country that has accepted bitcoin as legal tender.
Last year, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele declared bitcoin the official currency of the country. The politician bought cryptocurrency with money from the country’s budget, mined it using the energy of volcanoes , and planned to build a bitcoin city without taxes. However, things are not going well right now.
Even though bitcoin is the official currency of El Salvador, the vast majority of businesses still do not accept cryptocurrency (and do not seem to intend to do so in the foreseeable future).
The sharp ups and downs of bitcoin also take a heavy toll on the country’s budget.
Whether Malaysia will repeat the same mistakes is not yet clear. However, it is known that not everyone in the country likes this prospect. In 2021, Malaysian law enforcement confiscated 1,069 bitcoin mining rigs and crushed them with a roller in a show .
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