2021-09-07
The first country adopts Bitcoin as legal tender — the nation-state era begins.
On 7 September 2021, El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law took effect, making it the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender alongside the US dollar. The rollout paired a national wallet (Chivo) with merchant acceptance requirements, and the treasury began accumulating bitcoin — later publishing its cold-wallet address for anyone to audit.
Assessments of the experiment vary widely and honestly. What is not disputed: a precedent was set, the IMF objected, and every subsequent nation-state bitcoin conversation happens in its shadow.
The full timeline → · What Bitcoin traded at, year by year → · What buying back then would mean today →