3 more countries will adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in 2022
According to the CEO of a game-changing global financial giant, Bitcoin will be legal tender in three more countries by 2022.
Nigel Green of deVere Group, one of the world’s largest independent financial advisory, asset management, and fintech organizations, doubled down on a prediction made by El Salvador’s President on Sunday.
Nayib Bukele tweeted a series of Bitcoin predictions to his 3.2 million followers, including “2 more countries will adopt it as legal tender.” Among the predictions are that the cryptocurrency will reach $100,000 this year.
El Salvador made history in September when it became the world’s first country to make Bitcoin an official currency alongside the US dollar.
“I’m confident that the young, daring President, Nayib Bukele, is correct about other countries adopting Bitcoin as legal tender in 2022,” Mr Green says.
“However, I would go even further than he did.” I believe that three more countries will likely follow El Salvador’s pioneering, future-focused lead into the digital age.”
“Low-income countries have long suffered because their currencies are weak and extremely vulnerable to market changes, resulting in rampant inflation,” he continues.
“As a result, most developing countries become overly reliant on major ‘first-world’ currencies, such as the US dollar, to complete transactions.”
“However, reliance on another country’s currency brings with it its own set of problems, many of which are very costly.” Because developing countries have taken on so much dollar-denominated debt in recent decades, a stronger US dollar, for example, will weigh on emerging-market economic prospects.”
“By adopting cryptocurrency as legal tender, these countries immediately have a currency that isn’t influenced by market conditions within their own economy, nor directly by the economy of just one other country,” the deVere CEO continues.
“Because Bitcoin operates on a global scale, it is influenced by broader, global economic changes.”
Furthermore, cryptocurrencies, he notes, could help “bolster financial inclusion for individuals and businesses” in developing countries because they “can circumnavigate the biases” of traditional banks and other financial service providers.
Following President Bukele’s audacious tweet about more countries adopting Bitcoin as legal tender this year, his followers shared their thoughts on which countries they believe are most likely to do so. Among them were Tonga, Turkey, and Bolivia, to name a few.
According to Nigel Green, “other countries, including Panama, Paraguay, Guatemala, and Honduras, could also adopt Bitcoin due to their similar reliance on remittances, amongst other factors.”
“Panama announced a bill to make cryptocurrency legal tender in the country shortly after El Salvador’s adoption in September.” Additionally, Congressman Gabriel Silva tweeted that this could create jobs in Panama and attract foreign investment.
“Last month, the Senate of Paraguay passed legislation to regulate the trading and mining of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in the country.” Is this the first step toward establishing Bitcoin as legal tender?”
According to officials, the central banks of Honduras and Guatemala are also interested in digital currencies, but they are taking a different approach for the time being.
“They’re looking into central bank digital currencies right now” (CBDC). This demonstrates that they, too, believe that the future of money is digital.
“However, I believe they will eventually accept an existing cryptocurrency as legal tender, as El Salvador has,” says Nigel Green.
“President Bukele is correct,” he concludes. Other countries will, in fact, follow El Salvador’s lead and make Bitcoin legal tender by 2022.
“Of course, how many remains unknown. However, when it occurs, it will have a snowball effect.”
