El Salvador continues to champion crypto adoption among other nation-states. inspired by the Central American country, Indira Kempis, a Mexican Senator, has said that Mexico needs Bitcoin to be legal. The senator is developing a cryptocurrency bill that is based on El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law.
Kempis: Mexicans can get financial inclusion with Bitcoin
Kempis noted her optimism for Bitcoin adoption in an interview given during her visit to El Salvador. Speaking with El Salvador In English, a local publication,Kempis said that she has observed that Bitcoin was bringing financial inclusion to El Salvadorans.
The Mexican Senator opined that El Salvador was rapidly changing the narrative around it. From being often mentioned in connection with issues of migration, violence, and organized crime, El Salvador is now mentioned in the discussion on global crypto adoption.
She added that her country, Mexico, needed to emulate El Salvador in this way.
We need bitcoin to be legal tender in Mexico because if it is not so, if we do not make that decision as El Salvador did, it is very difficult to take action, she said.
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In Kempis’ view, adopting Bitcoin as legal tender has the potential to create a level playing field for “people who are excluded” all over the world.
Aside from Kempis’ testimony of the positives of Bitcoin adoption in El Salvador, the country has been highlighting the benefits it has gained from the move. El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele recently noted that the country’s GDP grew over 10% last year.
Morena Valdez, the country’s minister for tourism, added that the sector had surged more than 30% since the implementation of the Bitcoin law. Receipts of foreign exchange from tourism have also exceeded the government’s projection, she noted.
Here’s why Mexico stands to benefit from making Bitcoin legal
As Kempis has opined, Mexico potentially stands to derive a ton of benefits from adopting Bitcoin as legal tender. According to an Association of Banks of Mexico (ABM) study, there is a clear case of widespread financial exclusion in Mexico. Around 53% of adults in the country lack a bank account. Similarly, 7 out of 10 of the country’s population do not have access to credit, the study found.
ABM noted that the problem is exacerbated by the fact that the population has a distrust for financial products and services. Bitcoin, being a decentralized solution, can help solve this gap as it is doing in El Salvador. Meanwhile, Mexico has plans to issue a CBDC by 2024 to bring more financial inclusion.