What does it mean for bitcoin to be legal tender in El Salvador?
Does it mean all shops are forced to accept bitcoin or shops can accept bitcoin only if they want to? Logically, it doesn't make sense for it to be the first option because not all shops will have the infrastructure to (e.g. a small convenience store or grocery shop). If it is the second option, then I doubt many shops will opt for it.
Or does it mean products in El Salador are priced in satoshis?
Here is the text of the law (translated to English):
BITCOIN LAW
CHAPTER I
GENERAL DISPOSITIONS
Art. 1. The purpose of this law is to regulate bitcoin as unrestricted legal tender with liberating power, unlimited in any transaction, and to any title that public or private natural or legal persons require carrying out.
What is mentioned in the previous paragraph does not hinder the application of the Monetary Integration law.
Art. 2. The exchange rate between bitcoin and the United States dollar, subsequently USD, will be freely established by the market.
Art. 3. Prices may be expressed in bitcoin.
Art. 4. Tax contributions can be paid in bitcoin.
Art. 5. Exchanges in bitcoin will not be subject to capital gains tax, just like any legal tender.
Art. 6. For accounting purposes, the USD will be used as the reference currency.
Art. 7. Every economic agent must accept bitcoin as payment when offered to him by whoever acquires a good or service.
Art. 8. Without prejudice to the actions of the private sector, the State shall provide alternatives that allow the user to carry out transactions in bitcoin and have automatic and instant convertibility from bitcoin to USD if they wish. Furthermore, the State will promote the necessary training and mechanisms so that the population can access bitcoin transactions.
Art. 9. The limitations and operations of the alternatives of automatic and instantaneous conversion from bitcoin to USD provided by the State will be specified in the Regulations issued for this purpose.
Art. 10. The Executive Branch will create the necessary institutional structure to apply this law.
FINAL AND TRANSITIONAL PROVISIONS
Art. 11. The Central Reserve Bank and the Superintendency of the Financial System shall issue the corresponding regulations within the period mentioned in Article 16 of this law.
Art. 12. Those who, by evident and notorious fact, do not have access to the technologies that allow them to carry out transactions in bitcoin are excluded from the obligation expressed in Art. 7 of this law. The State will promote the necessary training and mechanisms so that the population can access bitcoin transactions.
Art. 13. All obligations in money expressed in USD, existing before the effective date of this law, may be paid in bitcoin.
Art. 14. Before the entry into force of this law, the State will guarantee, through the creation of a trust at the Banco de Desarrollo de El Salvador (BANDESAL), the automatic and instantaneous convertibility of bitcoin to USD necessary for the alternatives provided by the State mentioned in Art. 8.
Art. 15. This law will have a special character in its application concerning other laws that regulate the matter, repealing any provision that contradicts it.
Art. 16. This decree will take affect ninety days after its publication in the Official Gazette.