Arizona’s Bill to Make Bitcoin a Legal Tender Could Receive ‘Backlash’; Here’s Why

Sahana Kiran
Arizona
Source – Unsplash

Moving aside El Salvador, Arizona was the latest region to take interest in Bitcoin [BTC]. Following the footsteps of El Salvador and Texas, the US state senate Wendy Rogers decided to introduce a bill seeking a legal stature for Bitcoin.

The adoption of crypto, specifically Bitcoin managed to surge from its nascent stage. Earlier, governments were quick to categorize crypto as dark web assets. However now, the same governments were embracing BTC. Arizona did not want to miss out on the Bitcoin wave.

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Republican Wendy Rogers introduced the bill, SB 1341 that defines Bitcoin as legal tender in the state. While the bill is still seeking a green signal, it could certainly revolutionize the US state. On approval, Bitcoin would be accepted for public charges, taxes, debts, and similar dues in Arizona.

Despite being elated on hearing this news, the community was still skeptical. The US Constitution does not permit states to formulate their own legal tender. Therefore, the chances of this bill getting a thumbs-up were far-fetched.

Nevertheless, Arizona as well as Rogers were lauded by the crypto community.

Arizona to fall under IMF’s purview?

El Salvador created an uproar following its decision to make Bitcoin its official currency. The country became the first in the globe to do so. While President Nayib Bukele continues to embrace crypto, an array of countries as well as states across the world were inspired by him.

Despite running the show smoothly, the Salvadorian government garnered immense backlash from the International Monetary Fund [IMF]. Earlier this week, IMF coerced El Salvador to strip Bitcoin of its legal status in the country.

READ ALSO: Brazil’s Parliament to Consider a New Law to Pay Employees in Bitcoin

Furthermore, the IMF believed that the anti-Bitcoin crew-led protests in the country could bring out inflation and instability to the country. In light of this, it was speculated that the IMF would most likely have its eyes on Arizona following its latest proposal.

Additionally, Arizona being bullish on Bitcoin made no difference on the largest cryptocurrency’s price. At press time, BTC continued to trade below $40k.