When people ask if Bitcoin, a decentralized digital currency that operates without a central bank. Also known as digital gold, it is a peer-to-peer payment system built on blockchain technology is legal tender, they’re really asking: Can I use it to pay my taxes or buy a car like I would with dollars or euros? The short answer? No—except in one place. El Salvador made Bitcoin legal tender in 2021, the only country in the world to do so. But even there, it’s not used like cash. Most people still convert it to dollars instantly. Why? Because legal tender, any form of money that a government declares must be accepted to settle a debt isn’t just about acceptance—it’s about enforcement. If you owe the government $100, you can’t hand them a Bitcoin and walk away. They’ll demand dollars. And if you try to pay a restaurant in Bitcoin and they refuse, that’s perfectly legal—unless you’re in El Salvador.
Most governments treat Bitcoin as property, not currency. The U.S. IRS taxes it as an asset. The European Union regulates it under anti-money laundering rules. Singapore’s MAS requires exchanges to follow strict reporting. India bans crypto payments outright. These aren’t random policies—they’re all reactions to the same problem: central bank digital currency, a digital form of a nation’s fiat money issued and controlled by its central bank is coming, and Bitcoin doesn’t fit into that model. Central banks want control. Bitcoin was built to remove it. That’s why the U.S. Treasury seizes Bitcoin in drug busts, why FinCEN forces exchanges to track every transaction, and why Bangladesh has 3.1 million crypto users despite a total ban. People want Bitcoin for its freedom, but governments need control. The result? A messy middle ground where Bitcoin is tolerated but never trusted as real money.
What you’ll find in these posts isn’t just theory—it’s real-world cases. You’ll see how Iran uses cheap electricity to mine Bitcoin while citizens face blackouts. How Singapore shuts down new crypto licenses with brutal precision. How the U.S. seizes crypto at record levels and keeps it. How India bans payments but lets you trade. These aren’t isolated stories—they’re pieces of a global puzzle where Bitcoin exists outside the system, but the system is always watching, regulating, and sometimes seizing. This isn’t about whether Bitcoin will replace the dollar. It’s about whether any government will ever let it.
El Salvador made Bitcoin legal tender in 2021 but reversed the policy in 2025 after public resistance and IMF pressure. Learn what worked, what failed, and why Bitcoin is no longer used for daily transactions.