U.S. Senators Jim Risch and Bob Menendez have reintroduced the “ Accountability for Cryptocurrency in El Salvador Act, ” understood as the “ ACES Act, ” for discussion in the Senate. The piece of legislation seeks to query the position of the adoption of Bitcoin as a legitimate tender in El Salvador and how this might affect the financial stability of the country.

‘Accountability for Cryptocurrency in El Salvador (ACES) Act’ Reintroduced in U.S. Senate

U.S. Senators Jim Risch and Bob Menendez have reintroduced the “Accountability for Cryptocurrency in El Salvador Act,” similarly known as the “ACES Act,” to be talked over in the U.S. Senate. The piece of legislation, that was preliminarily offered to Congress on March 23, 2022, seeks to examine the process applied to make bitcoin legal tender in El Salvador, as well as its effect on the economy of the country.

When reintroducing the ACES Act, U.S. Senator Jim Risch supported the perceived need to assess the possible effects of utilizing crypto as a legitimate tender. He stated:

We must seek greater clarity on how the adoption of bitcoin as legal tender may impact El Salvador’s financial and economic stability, as well as El Salvador’s capacity to effectively combat money laundering and illicit finances.

Elements of the Act

If enacted, the act would compel the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the Treasury to deliver a report about the adoption of Bitcoin and legitimate tender in El Salvador. This would include an assessment of the legislation that permitted it, the impact it is having on the personal economy of Salvadorans, and similarly, the gaps that this implementation could create regarding compliance with the guidelines published by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on money laundering and terrorism financing activities.

The report should similarly include how the preface of Bitcoin could affect the relations of El Salvador with multilateral finance organizations, like the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, as well as its international financial stability.

Finally, it must similarly examine how Bitcoin adoption might influence the remittance flow between El Salvador and the U.S., and how it might undermine the use of dollars in the country.

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele had expressed his disbelief on the text of the ACES Act ahead, stating:

Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that the U.S. Government would be afraid of what we are doing here.

(Sergio Goschenko, Bitcoin.com, 2023)