I suppose exchanging Bitcoin comes along with the lifting of the ban. OP's attachments and quotations are all in Spanish. If we translate them into English, it says:


The central bank, however, emphasized that Bitcoin is not a legal tender. As such, companies and the population in general don't have the obligation to accept Bitcoin as a means of payment. But the green light is there for anybody who wishes to transact using Bitcoin for as long as they use registered platforms.

I'm looking forward to crypto exchanges and other custodial services applying for license to operate in Bolivia.

It took them really a lot of years to understand that Bitcoin is not a problem. Bitcoin is an opportunity and they take it wrongly as a threat. They may not feel the effects directly but Bolivia missed lots of opportunities and lots of fortune by banning Bitcoin and I can prove that with an example of my country. My country took Bitcoin as an opportunity and also decided to implement blockchain technologies in the land title registry. We were among one of the top mining countries in the world too. It brought lots of money, lots of investment and lots of opportunities in our country. It's very sad that Bolivia did the exact opposite and missed such an opportunity.

I did not mention anything that would cause everyone to imply that Bolivia's lifting on the ban on bitcoin would make it legal tender within their jurisdiction. What I said was the lifting of the ban might have been caused by El Salvador's support and probitcoin policies. Acceptance and the encouragement to use bitcoin will certainly help on the negotiation table against the IMF and the World Bank.

Also on Bolivia and bitcoin as legal tender, this might only be the beginning. They might pass a bill declaring bitcoin as legal tender, I predict within 3 years.

@SquirrelJulietGarden. The IMF and the World Bank grant loans to country's governments and very much similar to corporations with their own interests, the World Bank and the IMF also have their own interests and agendas on a country they grant loans to. This is usually to the disadvantage of the borrower because they are forced to compromise to the demands of the World Bank and the IMF. The demand is usually more control over a country's currency and it is very clear that the borrower is always the loser in this setting.

However, how does a country get some negotiating power on their side of the negotiating table? I reckon this is to allow a currency that the World Bank and the IMF can never control. This is bitcoin.

I also never argued that making bitcoin legal tender will cause an economy of a country to improve. I said it might be good for the government on the negotiating table against the IMF and World Bank.

Why are people so obsessed with making Bitcoin legal tender when it in itself has no positive effect at all? The example of El Salvador has shown that it is completely counterproductive to force people to use BTC and that Bitcoin as a currency works far better where it is available as an alternative.

Except for a few countries in the world where Bitcoin is prohibited by law, in most countries there are no legal obstacles for anyone to enable payment with BTC for their goods or services, and even where it is prohibited, people still have the opportunity to make BTC transactions with each other without that they have to fear that their government will know about it.

What Bolivia has done does not mean anything special, because in a few years the government can change and return everything to the old way - that's how they do it in that part of the world.

About time they did. Been a whole while since the country ever felt the fresh air of having cryptocurrencies around and this will certainly help boost crypto’s fame upwards, hoping this wouldn’t be another El Salvador though, cause what happened with that country is just a massive shame. From a country who loves bitcoin turned to a whole nation that despises it due to poor management. Although they didn’t specify that they’d boost and use bitcoin’s popularity or some shit, so I guess we’re clear on that one.

There seems to be a trend amongst countries and cities trying to integrate bitcoin and crypto in the economy only to end up making things worse for everyone cause now everyone in that place hates bitcoin and crypto, poor management and lack of foresight being one of the biggest culprits if I do say so myself.

In that regard, here’s to me hoping that this isn’t enough for people to start buying in to crypto. Don’t get me wrong. It’s cool, but of course it’s way better if we get a stronger narrative yeah?

It is nothing special for the BTC network in general and also in the grand scheme of things, but i believe it is special for bitcoiners living in Bolivia, now they can overtly use and spend BTC, i know before they could do it p2p, but now it is legal for financial institutions in Bolivia to be involved in crypto tx's and it must feel good for them. You are right that they could ban it again, but until then.

That's a bold step by the Bolivian government, though it took them long to retrace their steps. Well, this must be a relief to the bitcoin enthusiasts in Bolivia who have been secretly trading Bitcoin with fear of being charged by the Bolivian authorities, now they can all carry out transactions and people would be able to include Bitcoin as a payment option for their various businesses, it's a good news for them and I think the next step to be carried out by their government concerning this issue, is to release those that were held by the authorities due to the previous ban. The Bolivian government have made one of the best decision and gradually, every other government that's placed a ban on Bitcoin would begin to notice it's benefits and retrace their steps like Bolivia has done.

I read the article, thank you for sharing it. It is crazy that they arrested 60 people because they were undergoing training on how to invest in crypto, meanwhile the country said they were only prohibiting banks from involving itself in cryptocurrency tx's. I believe this is how things happen in many third world countries, there is almost no respect for basic human rights, and it is hard to trust that the government won't ban crypto again, but Bolivians can enjoy the freedom they have now.

Nah, not crazy because it is stated on their law that dealing with cryptos are not legal. Everyone must be restricted with it but even if not, banks are already allergically default to cryptos and there is no need for their governments to dictate them about it.

There are still plenty of third world countries who accept cryptos. They know that they will be needing it to help them excel in the competition. The battle for human rights are now long gone but there might still be some law which can somehow step in the humans rights. Well, we can't do much about it but obey it, or else we will be in trouble and we can only wish that the governments will change their minds someday.