Today, Tuesday, September 7, the Bitcoin Law comes into effect in El Salvador, becoming the first country in the world to recognize Bitcoin as legal tender. This and more news in this practical daily summary so that you are always informed with the most recent events that occur within the crypto world.
Cryptocurrencies and altcoins
📍Bitcoin rises 3% to meet expectations for El Salvador's Bitcoin Law. The market-leading cryptocurrency is trading near the $52.600 per unit, showing a 3% growth in its value in the last hours of this Monday. El Salvador's Bitcoin law comes into effect today, Tuesday, September 7, recognizing bitcoin as legal tender in the country.
The price of Bitcoin and others cryptocurrencies, continue to show strength since the recovery in August. Several analysts believe that the crypto market is ready to start a new bullish rally, as reported Bit2Me News yesterday. The market capitalization of Bitcoin (BTC) is close to breaking the $1 trillion mark again.
Bitcoin and Blockchain Adoption
📍Vast Bank allows its clients to access cryptocurrencies. The US bank backed by the US Federal Reserve becomes the first nationally authorized traditional bank to offer cryptocurrency products and services. Vast Bank updated its web page to inform that its clients and users can now access services for buying, selling, storing and managing cryptoassets directly with their bank account.
The bank enabled the new services to meet the growing demand of its clients to access the crypto world. It also assures that it will offer an alternative to acquire crypto assets in a simple and reliable way. The news was also shared through its Twitter account.
📍Ricardo Salinas announces that his company Elektra will soon accept bitcoin. The Mexican billionaire indicated that his retail lending and credit services company will begin using bitcoin through the second layer network Lightning Network.
The company confirmed the news citing a message from Salinas, who is the president of Grupo Salinas, owner of Elektra. In June, Salinas reported that he was analyzing the possibility of offering access to bitcoin through Banco Azteca, also owned by him. However, a few days after reporting this possibility, Arturo Herrera Gutiérrez, Mexico's Secretary of Finance, reiterated that the use of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies is prohibited in the country, due to the high risk and lack of regulation on these digital assets.
NFT and DeFi Markets
📍The Bored Apes auction at Sotheby's exceeds 19 million dollars. The project's collection of 101 NFT tokens Bored Ape Yacht Club exceeded all expectations of the auction house Sotheby's. The bidding for this NFT collection reaches 19 million, with 2 days left until the auction closes.
Sotheby's initially estimated a bid between $12.000 and $18 million for this digital collection. In recent weeks, the Bored Apes have sparked a frenzy among crypto investors, moving a costumes of operations of almost $70 million in the last week and $348 million in the last month on Opensea.
Rules and Regulations
📍Statements by the legal advisor to the president of El Salvador create controversy just hours before the Bitcoin Law comes into force in the country. Javier Argueta, legal advisor to the presidency of El Salvador, reportedly suggested that companies that refuse to use or transact with bitcoin, from the wallet Chivo developed by the state, would be subject to sanctions for non-compliance with the Consumer Law. According to the The World Newspaper, Argueta made these statements during his participation in the national television program Facing.
However, Argueta asked the media to correct his statements, which were misinterpreted. The legal advisor clarified that the use of Chivo is not mandatory in the country, as the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, has repeated on several occasions. Rather, Argueta stressed that “everyone decides which electronic wallet (for bitcoin) they use.”
On twitter, Facing quoted a statement from Argueta referring to Article 7 of the Bitcoin Law, indicating that those who use the Chivo wallet and accept payments in bitcoins will be able to choose whether to keep their balances in the cryptocurrency or change to dollars immediately. This article indicates that businesses and merchants are subject to accepting payments in bitcoins if a person wishes to acquire a good or service using the cryptocurrency. On the other hand, Bukele reported that El Salvador has already made its first investment in Bitcoin, acquiring 200 units of the cryptocurrency. It is presumed that the country invested around 10,3 million dollars, according to the BTC price in the market, of 51.700 dollars, at the time of Bukele's announcement.
El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law, which recognizes Bitcoin as legal tender in the country, goes into effect today, September 7, making El Salvador the first nation in the world to legally adopt the cryptocurrency.
📍The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) launches a regulatory battle against DeFi. Days ago, the Wall Street Journal reported that the SEC has launched an investigation against Uniswap Labs, the lead developer of the decentralized exchange (DEX) Uniswap. WSJ cited people familiar with the matter as reporting on the SEC's ongoing investigation into how the decentralized protocol works and how investors participate and generate profits in it.
SEC Chairman Gary Gensler has been paying attention to the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem and the products and protocols being developed there for some time. In August, suggested that decentralized lending and liquidity mining protocols are not immune to laws because they are within a decentralized ecosystem, and that due to the way they operate and provide incentives to their participants, they could be subject to securities laws.
The financial regulator also warned recently on the risks that investors and consumers face when participating in the crypto industry.
Continue reading: Ethereum price approaches $4.000 as more ethers are burned on the network
