Crypto history, told plainly

El Salvador: the bitcoin nation

In June of 2021, a small Central American country announced the boldest monetary experiment of the century: bitcoin would become legal tender. Here is how El Salvador did it, what the country built, how the story shifted, and why the whole world is still watching.

Reviewed and current as of September 12, 2026

01The announcement

On June 5, 2021, a video message from President Nayib Bukele played at the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami. In it, he said El Salvador would send a bill to its legislature to make bitcoin legal tender, the first country in the world to take that step. His reasons were practical: about one in five dollars in the country's economy arrives as remittances from abroad, and roughly seven in ten Salvadorans lived outside the banking system. Bitcoin promised to move money home faster and to bring millions of people into the financial system for the first time.

02The law passes

Three days later, on June 9, El Salvador's legislature passed the Bitcoin Law with 62 votes, a clear supermajority. Ninety days after publication, the law took effect: on September 7, 2021, bitcoin became legal tender alongside the US dollar, which the country had used since 2001. Goods, services and even taxes could now be paid in bitcoin, and merchants were expected to accept it. The day before launch, the government announced it had bought its first 200 bitcoin for the national treasury.

03Chivo and the thirty dollars

To give everyday Salvadorans a way in, the government built Chivo, a digital wallet, and put the equivalent of $30 in bitcoin inside for every citizen who downloaded it and verified their identity. Hundreds of bitcoin ATMs went up across the country, exchange desks appeared at special kiosks, and opening week brought a flood of downloads that briefly overwhelmed the servers. Millions of people touched bitcoin for the first time, often within days of the launch.

04The big dreams

That November, Bukele took the stage at a bitcoin event in El Salvador and announced Bitcoin City: a planned circular metropolis near the Conchagua volcano, powered by geothermal energy, with a huge bitcoin plaza at its center and only value added tax for residents. To fund it, the government planned a $1 billion tokenized bond, the so called volcano bond, with half earmarked for more bitcoin purchases and half for energy and mining infrastructure. The plans captured imaginations worldwide and turned the small country into the industry's favorite experiment to watch.

05The treasury and the IMF chapter

Through the years, the government kept buying bitcoin for its treasury, growing the stash past 6,000 coins by early 2025. International lenders watched closely, and in December 2024 El Salvador reached a $1.4 billion agreement with the International Monetary Fund. As part of the deal, a January 2025 reform made bitcoin acceptance voluntary for private businesses while bitcoin kept its legal tender status. The government signaled it would keep buying for its reserves, adjusting the policy while staying in the game.

06What it means for you

El Salvador opened a chapter the world had been waiting for: money built by software standing next to the dollar in the law books. The experiment gave millions of people their first wallet, showed how remittances can move on open rails, and taught every other nation watching what to copy and what to improve. It is still running, and its lessons keep shaping how the world thinks about bitcoin. Follow the treasury, watch the cities, and keep learning: history is being made in real time.