The Central African Republic has has joined El Salvador as the second country to adopted bitcoin as legal tender, according to reports by AP. The decision of the landlocked and one of the poorest country in the world to adopt the use of digital currency was announced on Wednesday shortly after President Faustin Archange Touadera signed the bill into law.
The law allows bitcoin to be used as a legal tender alongside the CFA franc.
The CAR “is the first country in Africa to adopt bitcoin as legal tender,” Namsio said.
“This move places the Central African Republic on the map of the world’s boldest and most visionary countries,” he declared.
El Salvador became the world’s first bitcoin adopter on September 7.
Under it, citizens of the central American country were allowed to use the digital currency — along with the US dollar which has been the official currency for two decades — to pay for any good or service, using a cyber wallet app.
The introduction was heavily criticised by the International Monetary Fund.
It warned of “large risks associated with the use of bitcoin on financial stability, financial integrity, and consumer protection” and with issuing bitcoin-backed bonds.
AFP
