Arizona Senator Introduces Bill to Adopt Bitcoin as Legal Tender

Arizona senator Wendy Rogers unveiled a set of bills on Wednesday, which would adopt Bitcoin as legal tender and facilitate the use of the flagship crypto in the state.

If enacted, Bitcoin will be accepted as a means of payment for goods and services at the state agencies. The bills’ approval will also make Arizona the first U.S. state to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.

Under the Arizona bill, Bitcoin is defined as “the decentralized, peer-to-peer digital currency in which a record of transactions is maintained on the Bitcoin blockchain, and new units of currency are generated by the computational solution of mathematical problems, and that operates independently of a central bank.”

And Bitcoin For All!

Senator Wendy Rogers first introduced a bill to make Bitcoin legal tender in January 2022. However, the senator’s proposal hit a roadblock and the bill wasn’t accepted.

Passing the bill plays a symbolic role in the US, where the power to determine legal property is in the hands of the U.S. Constitution and Congress.

The current laws don’t allow states to issue their own currency. It is also noteworthy that Bitcoin has not been considered legal tender in the country.

The crypto industry has experienced massive setbacks since 2022 with a series of bankruptcies and fraud investigations.

Bitcoin’s price also fell back below $16,000 from $69,045 peak. But banking giant Goldman Sachs has ranked Bitcoin as the best performing asset in the world year-to-date. Senator Wendy Rogers cited the bank’s recent report in her announcement.

Goldman is Hot on Bitcoin

According to the bank’s report, the flagship cryptocurrency has outperformed the S&P 500, gold, real estate and Nasdaq 100. Goldman Sachs held a skeptic stance against Bitcoin in the past.

But the table turned as initial underestimation led to adoption. In Q2/2022, Goldman Sachs launched its crypto services, becoming bullish on the future of cryptocurrencies.

Previously, the leading bank said that bitcoin will gradually overtake gold’s market share in 2022 as more and more people own the virtual currency. Goldman Sachs predicted the price would skyrocket to $100,000, if this virtual currency captures 50% market share of the “store of value” market.

Remains Challenging

Regulators around the world are working on a legal framework for cryptocurrency. Adopting Bitcoin as legal tender is unlikely foreseeable in the near future. Up to date, El Salvador is the only country that accepts Bitcoin as legal national currency.

El Salvador’s Bitcoin decision has prompted other countries in the region to follow suit. El Salvador’s Bitcoin strategy, on the other hand, has been completely unsuccessful.

Despite becoming media headlines, the acceptance of Bitcoin in El Salvador is still low, and very few businesses will accept payments in this form of digital currency.

The failure of President Nayib Bukele’s plans and promises to deliver on his commitments ushers El Salvador into a period of challenging times. Bitcoin’s value has dropped significantly since the official start of the test.

The country introduced a digital wallet Chivo in an effort to hasten the country’s adoption of cryptocurrencies.

Chivo comes equipped with features such as the ability to conduct free transactions and enables users to make rapid cross-border payments as long as they can connect to the Internet.

The original plan was effective. It was estimated in January by President Bukele that approximately 60% of the population, or four million El Salvadorans, used Chivo wallets. This is a significantly higher number than the number of people who have traditional bank accounts.

On the other hand, according to a report that was released in April by the United States Office of National Economic Research, only 20% of people who downloaded the wallet continued to use it after they received the $30 bonus.

Following the FTX’s collapse, people started to question the realistic aspect of the El Salvador government.