II 

Calendar No. 321 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3666 

To require reports on the adoption of a cryptocurrency as legal tender in 

El Salvador, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

FEBRUARY 16, 2022 

Mr. RISCH (for himself, Mr. MENENDEZ, and Mr. CASSIDY) introduced the 

following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on 

Foreign Relations 

APRIL 4 (legislative day, MARCH 31), 2022 

Reported by Mr. MENENDEZ, with an amendment 

[Strike out all after the enacting clause and insert the part printed in italic] 

A BILL 

To require reports on the adoption of a cryptocurrency as 

legal tender in El Salvador, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Accountability for 

5 Cryptocurrency in El Salvador Act’’ or ‘‘ACES Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. REPORTS ON ADOPTION OF CRYPTOCURRENCY AS 

2 LEGAL TENDER IN EL SALVADOR. 

3 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 

4 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 

5 in coordination with the heads of other relevant Federal 

6 departments and agencies, shall submit to the appropriate 

7 committees of Congress a report on the adoption by the 

8 Government of El Salvador of a cryptocurrency as legal 

9 tender. 

10 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required by subsection 

11 (a) shall include the following: 

12 (1) A description of the process followed by the 

13 Government of El Salvador to develop and enact the 

14 Bitcoin Law (Legislative Decree No. 57, Official 

15 Record No. 110, Volume 431, enacted June 9, 

16 2021), which provides the cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, 

17 with legal tender status in El Salvador. 

18 (2) An assessment of— 

19 (A) the regulatory framework in El Sal20 vador with respect to the adoption of a 

21 cryptocurrency as legal tender and the technical 

22 capacity of El Salvador to effectively mitigate 

23 the financial integrity and cyber security risks 

24 associated with virtual-asset transactions; 

25 (B) whether the regulatory framework in 

26 El Salvador meets the requirements of the FiVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Apr 05, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S3666.RS S3666

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1 nancial Action Task Force with respect to vir2 tual-asset transactions; 

3 (C) the impact on individuals and busi4 nesses of requiring tender of Bitcoin; and 

5 (D) the impact of such adoption of a 

6 cryptocurrency on— 

7 (i) the macroeconomic stability and 

8 public finances of El Salvador, including 

9 taxation; 

10 (ii) the rule of law and democratic 

11 governance in El Salvador; 

12 (iii) the unbanked population in El 

13 Salvador; 

14 (iv) the flow of remittances from the 

15 United States to El Salvador; 

16 (v) El Salvador’s relations with multi17 lateral financial institutions, such as the 

18 International Monetary Fund and the 

19 Word Bank; 

20 (vi) bilateral and international efforts 

21 to combat transnational illicit activities; 

22 (vii) El Salvador’s bilateral economic 

23 and commercial relationship with the 

24 United States and the potential for reVerDate Sep 11 2014 00:44 Apr 05, 2022 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6401 E:\BILLS\S3666.RS S3666

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1 duced use by El Salvador of the United 

2 States dollar; and 

3 (viii) existing United States sanctions 

4 frameworks and the potential for the use 

5 of cryptocurrency to circumvent such sanc6 tions. 

7 (3) A description of the internet infrastructure 

8 of El Salvador and an assessment of— 

9 (A) the degree to which cryptocurrency is 

10 used in El Salvador; 

11 (B) matters relating to chain of custody 

12 and the potential for hacking and cybertheft of 

13 cryptocurrency; and 

14 (C) access to transparent and affordable 

15 internet and digital infrastructure among the 

16 unbanked population of El Salvador. 

17 (c) PLAN TO MITIGATE RISKS TO UNITED STATES

18 FINANCIAL SYSTEM POSED BY ADOPTION OF

19 CRYPTOCURRENCY AS LEGAL TENDER IN CERTAIN

20 COUNTRIES.— 

21 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

22 the submittal of the report required by subsection 

23 (a), the Secretary of State, in coordination with the 

24 heads of other relevant Federal departments and 

25 agencies, shall submit to the appropriate committees 


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1 of Congress a plan to mitigate any potential risk to 

2 the United States financial system posed by the 

3 adoption of a cryptocurrency as legal tender in— 

4 (A) El Salvador; and 

5 (B) any other country that uses the United 

6 States dollar as legal tender. 

7 (2) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 30 days 

8 after the date on which the plan is submitted under 

9 paragraph (1), the Secretary of State shall com10 mence implementation of the plan. 

11 (d) SUBSEQUENT REPORT.—Not later than 270 days 

12 after the submittal of the report required by subsection 

13 (a), the Secretary of State, in coordination with the heads 

14 of other relevant Federal departments and agencies, shall 

15 submit to the appropriate committees of Congress an up16 dated version of such report, including a description of any 

17 significant development related to the risks to the United 

18 States financial system posed by the use of a 

19 cryptocurrency as legal tender in El Salvador. 

20 (e) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS DE21 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate commit22 tees of Congress’’ means— 

23 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

24 the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Af25 fairs of the Senate; and 


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1 (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

2 Committee on Financial Services of the House of 

3 Representatives. 

4 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

5 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Accountability for 

6 Cryptocurrency in El Salvador Act’’ or ‘‘ACES Act’’. 

7 SEC. 2. REPORTS ON ADOPTION OF CRYPTOCURRENCY AS 

8 LEGAL TENDER IN EL SALVADOR. 

9 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 60 days after the 

10 date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State, 

11 in coordination with the heads of other relevant Federal de12 partments and agencies, shall submit to the appropriate 

13 committees of Congress a report on the adoption by the Gov14 ernment of El Salvador of a cryptocurrency as legal tender. 

15 (b) ELEMENTS.—The report required by subsection (a) 

16 shall include the following: 

17 (1) A description of the process followed by the 

18 Government of El Salvador to develop and enact the 

19 Bitcoin Law (Legislative Decree No. 57, Official 

20 Record No. 110, Volume 431, enacted June 9, 2021), 

21 which provides the cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, with legal 

22 tender status in El Salvador. 

23 (2) An assessment of— 

24 (A) the regulatory framework in El Sal25 vador with respect to the adoption of a 


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1 cryptocurrency as legal tender and the technical 

2 capacity of El Salvador to effectively mitigate 

3 the financial integrity and cybersecurity risks 

4 associated with virtual-asset transactions; 

5 (B) whether the regulatory framework in El 

6 Salvador meets the requirements of the Financial 

7 Action Task Force with respect to virtual-asset 

8 transactions; 

9 (C) the impact on individuals and busi10 nesses of requiring tender of Bitcoin; and 

11 (D) the impact of such adoption of a 

12 cryptocurrency on— 

13 (i) the macroeconomic stability and 

14 public finances of El Salvador, including 

15 taxation; 

16 (ii) the rule of law and democratic 

17 governance in El Salvador; 

18 (iii) the unbanked population in El 

19 Salvador; 

20 (iv) the flow of remittances from the 

21 United States to El Salvador; 

22 (v) El Salvador’s relations with multi23 lateral financial institutions, such as the 

24 International Monetary Fund and the Word 

25 Bank; 


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1 (vi) bilateral and international efforts 

2 to combat transnational illicit activities; 

3 (vii) El Salvador’s bilateral economic 

4 and commercial relationship with the 

5 United States and the potential for reduced 

6 use by El Salvador of the United States dol7 lar; 

8 (viii) existing United States sanctions 

9 frameworks and the potential for the use of 

10 cryptocurrency to circumvent such sanc11 tions; 

12 (ix) the environmental impact of 

13 cryptocurrency mining activities in El Sal14 vador, the deforestation associated with the 

15 construction of new cryptocurrency mining 

16 facilities, and the capacity of the electric 

17 grid in El Salvador to deliver reliable and 

18 affordable electricity meeting or exceeding 

19 the level available before the adoption of a 

20 cryptocurrency as legal tender; and 

21 (x) the feasibility of using 

22 cryptocurrency mining activities for pur23 poses of enhancing grid resiliency in El 

24 Salvador and any other country that uses 

25 the United States dollar as legal tender. 


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1 (3) A description of the internet infrastructure of 

2 El Salvador and an assessment of— 

3 (A) the degree to which cryptocurrency is 

4 used in El Salvador; 

5 (B) matters relating to chain of custody 

6 and the potential for hacking and cybertheft of 

7 cryptocurrency; and 

8 (C) access to transparent and affordable 

9 internet and digital infrastructure among the 

10 unbanked population of El Salvador. 

11 (c) PLAN TO MITIGATE RISKS TO UNITED STATES FI12 NANCIAL SYSTEM POSED BY ADOPTION OF

13 CRYPTOCURRENCY AS LEGAL TENDER IN CERTAIN COUN14 TRIES.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 90 days after 

16 the submittal of the report required by subsection (a), 

17 the Secretary of State, in coordination with the heads 

18 of other relevant Federal departments and agencies, 

19 shall submit to the appropriate committees of Con20 gress a plan to mitigate any potential risk to the 

21 United States financial system posed by the adoption 

22 of a cryptocurrency as legal tender in— 

23 (A) El Salvador; and 

24 (B) any other country that uses the United 

25 States dollar as legal tender. 


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1 (2) IMPLEMENTATION.—Not later than 30 days 

2 after the date on which the plan is submitted under 

3 paragraph (1), the Secretary of State shall commence 

4 implementation of the plan. 

5 (d) SUBSEQUENT REPORT.—Not later than 270 days 

6 after the submittal of the report required by subsection (a), 

7 the Secretary of State, in coordination with the heads of 

8 other relevant Federal departments and agencies, shall sub9 mit to the appropriate committees of Congress an updated 

10 version of such report, including a description of any sig11 nificant development related to the risks to the United 

12 States financial system posed by the use of a cryptocurrency 

13 as legal tender in El Salvador. 

14 (e) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS DE15 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate committees 

16 of Congress’’ means— 

17 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the 

18 Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs 

19 of the Senate; and 

20 (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

21 Committee on Financial Services of the House of Rep22 resentatives. 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS

kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS
Calendar No. 321 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3666 

A BILL 

To require reports on the adoption of a 

and for other purposes. cryptocurrency as legal tender in El Salvador, 

APRIL 4 (legislative day, MARCH 31), 2022 

Reported with an amendment 


kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS