The legislation appeared to be another attempt at the Accountability for Cryptocurrency in El Salvador Act, originally presented after the country's Bitcoin Law was enacted. 
Two United States Senators from opposite sides of the political aisle have reintroduced legislation from 2022 set at mitigating perceived threats posed by El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin as a legal currency.
Congressional records showed Idaho Senator James Risch and New Jersey Senator Bob Menendez presented “ a bill to necessitate reports on the adoption of cryptocurrency as legal tender in El Salvador ” on May 11. The legislation appeared to be an alternate attempt at the Accountability for Cryptocurrency in El Salvador Act, which Risch presented in February 2022, mere months after El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law went into effect.
According to a May 12 report from the Washington Examiner, Risch presented the bill as part of efforts to fight to utilize cryptocurrency as legal tender, claiming it could “ weaken economic and financial stability and empower malign actors. ” Bitcoin BTC $26,838 has been accepted as legitimate tender in El Salvador alongside the national colon currency and the U.S. dollar since September 2021.
If passed, the bill could necessitate federal agencies in the United States to report on El Salvador’s qualifications in cybersecurity and financial stability, and how these may have led to the passage of the nation's Bitcoin Law. The International Monetary Fund similarly warned the Central American country in February to consider the risk of BTC as legal tender on the country’s financial integrity and stability.
The previous version of the Bitcoin-concentrated legislation presented in the Senate passed through a committee in April 2022. Lawmakers in the House of Representatives similarly presented a companion bill, but according to congressional records, the legislation has not shifted in further than a year.
Related: El Salvador’s Bitcoin strategy evolved with the bear market in 2022
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele direct attacked U.S. lawmakers as “ boomers ” on Twitter the latter time the bill was presented, claiming they were attempting to interfere with “ a sovereign and self-dependent country. ” Under Bukele, the country has adopted numerous pro-crypto policies, including plans to raise funds to construct a ‘ Bitcoin city ’ utilizing BTC-backed bonds.
(TURNER WRIGHT, Cointelegraph, 2023)