A Mexican senator helped set up a Bitcoin ATM in the Senate building in a bid to make cryptocurrency the biggest legal tender
The Mexican Senate building now has its first Bitcoin ATM, which was deployed by ChainBytes in partnership with Axolotl Bitcoin, according to a press release on Wednesday.
The facility is meant to support Mexican Senator Indira Kempis’ initiative to make Bitcoin an official currency in Mexico.
Kempis, a strong supporter of cryptocurrency, believes Bitcoin brings financial freedom and inclusion. She hopes lawmakers can familiarize themselves with the biggest cryptocurrency.
ChainBytes CEO Eric Grill says the installation of the first Bitcoin ATM in the Senate building is a historic moment for the country.
His efforts to make Bitcoin legal tender are unlikely to succeed. As U.Today reports, Mexican President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador has definitely ruled out the adoption of Bitcoin as a means of payment.
While millions of people lack access to the banking system in Mexico, adopting Bitcoin as another legal tender alongside the Mexican peso could end up being too disruptive to the country’s financial system.
Earlier today, the Central African Republic officially announced that it had adopted Bitcoin as legal tender, becoming the second country in the world to do so.
El Salvador, a poor country in Central America, adopted Bitcoin as legal tender last September. While his cryptocurrency bet has garnered international attention and helped boost tourism to the country significantly, Bitcoin adoption has so far failed to take off. As reported by U.Today, businesses continue to reject the leading cryptocurrency despite the Bitcoin law provision requiring them to accept it.
