Bitcoin touches $52,000 after El Salvador becomes first country to accept it

Bitcoin prices were up today after El Salvador became the first country in the world to accept bitcoin as legal money on Tuesday, despite significant internal scepticism and international warnings about consumer hazards. The largest cryptocurrency in the world was trading at $52,534.39, up 1.5 per cent. El Salvador purchased 400 bitcoins ahead of the launch, which has almost $20 million markets worth at current rates. President Nayib Bukele announced on Twitter that the nation aims to acquire "a lot more" after purchasing the initial batch of 200.

Other cryptocurrencies were trading in a mixed bag, with Ether, the second largest cryptocurrency, trading with modest gains at $3,932, while Cardano and Dogecoin values fell more than 2% to $2.83 and $0.30, respectively. Over the previous 24 hours, XRP and Stellar rose while Litecoin and Uniswap fell. President Nayib Bukele, a staunch supporter of the cryptocurrency, has encouraged the more than 2 million Salvadorans living abroad to send remittances in Bitcoin, saying that it will be cheaper than sending dollars. He also claims that it will encourage foreign investment.

Also Read | El Salvador buys its first 200 Bitcoins, makes it legal currency of country

Bukele's administration has set up 200 Bitcoin ATMs around the country, which can be used to convert the cryptocurrency for US dollars. El Salvador's government has said that the dollar would remain the national currency for public accounting reasons and that shops that are technologically unable to accept e-money will be excluded from the law. In other developments, the US-based digital currency exchange CrossTower has established a local subsidiary in India and developed a trading platform to capitalise on the burgeoning domestic crypto market, even though the fate of cryptocurrency in India remains unknown.

• Bitcoin
• Cryptocurrency
• Nayib Bukele
• El Salvador