Honduras Will Not Adopt Bitcoin as Legal Tender

Rumors that Honduras would soon adopt Bitcoin as legal tender have been laid to rest by the nation’s central bank.

Central Bank’s Remarks

As it happens, Honduras will not follow in El Salvador’s footsteps in adopting Bitcoin as legal tender.

On Mar. 23, Honduras’ Central Bank put out a notice on the potential for Bitcoin to be adopted as legal tender, acknowledging circulating rumors. The notice drew readers’ attention to Article 342 of the country’s Constitution, Article 5 of the Monetary Law, and Article 26 of the Law of the Central Bank, in which the central bank is granted sole authority to issue bank notes and legal tender. 

Moreover, the banking authority noted how the Lempira was established as Honduras’ “monetary unit” in Article 1 of the Monetary Law. The central bank also noted that Bitcoin was unregulated in Honduras, warning that crypto transactions were not supervised or guaranteed by the central bank, meaning users of digital assets must do so at their own risk. 

The body acknowledged the possible innovation and mentioned its continued study of a potential central bank digital currency.

While El Salvador remains the only country to have adopted Bitcoin as legal tender, there is interest elsewhere. For example, last February, a senator in Mexico, Indira Kempis, was reportedly making plans for a Bitcoin as legal tender bill, while Brazil’s Senate’s Economic Affairs Committee passed a bill that recognized, regulated crypto assets. 

A city in Switzerland, Lugano, recently adopted Bitcoin as legal tender. There has been an effort to recognize Bitcoin as legal tender in Arizona, though it faces stiff headwinds on constitutional grounds. There has also been interest in both Malaysia and Argentina. 

Disclosure: At the time of writing, the author of this piece owned BTC, ETH, and several other cryptocurrencies.