II 

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 

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’’. 

6 SEC. 2. REPORTS ON ADOPTION OF CRYPTOCURRENCY AS 

7 LEGAL TENDER IN EL SALVADOR. 

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

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

10 in coordination with the heads of other relevant Federal 


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1 departments and agencies, shall submit to the appropriate 

2 committees of Congress a report on the adoption by the 

3 Government of El Salvador of a cryptocurrency as legal 

4 tender. 

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

6 (a) shall include the following: 

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

8 Government of El Salvador to develop and enact the 

9 Bitcoin Law (Legislative Decree No. 57, Official 

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

11 2021), which provides the cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, 

12 with legal tender status in El Salvador. 

13 (2) An assessment of— 

14 (A) the regulatory framework in El Sal15 vador with respect to the adoption of a 

16 cryptocurrency as legal tender and the technical 

17 capacity of El Salvador to effectively mitigate 

18 the financial integrity and cyber security risks 

19 associated with virtual-asset transactions; 

20 (B) whether the regulatory framework in 

21 El Salvador meets the requirements of the Fi22 nancial Action Task Force with respect to vir23 tual-asset transactions; 

24 (C) the impact on individuals and busi25 nesses of requiring tender of Bitcoin; and 


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1 (D) the impact of such adoption of a 

2 cryptocurrency on— 

3 (i) the macroeconomic stability and 

4 public finances of El Salvador, including 

5 taxation; 

6 (ii) the rule of law and democratic 

7 governance in El Salvador; 

8 (iii) the unbanked population in El 

9 Salvador; 

10 (iv) the flow of remittances from the 

11 United States to El Salvador; 

12 (v) El Salvador’s relations with multi13 lateral financial institutions, such as the 

14 International Monetary Fund and the 

15 Word Bank; 

16 (vi) bilateral and international efforts 

17 to combat transnational illicit activities; 

18 (vii) El Salvador’s bilateral economic 

19 and commercial relationship with the 

20 United States and the potential for re21 duced use by El Salvador of the United 

22 States dollar; and 

23 (viii) existing United States sanctions 

24 frameworks and the potential for the use 


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1 of cryptocurrency to circumvent such sanc2 tions. 

3 (3) A description of the internet infrastructure 

4 of El Salvador and an assessment of— 

5 (A) the degree to which cryptocurrency is 

6 used in El Salvador; 

7 (B) matters relating to chain of custody 

8 and the potential for hacking and cybertheft of 

9 cryptocurrency; and 

10 (C) access to transparent and affordable 

11 internet and digital infrastructure among the 

12 unbanked population of El Salvador. 

13 (c) PLAN TO MITIGATE RISKS TO UNITED STATES

14 FINANCIAL SYSTEM POSED BY ADOPTION OF

15 CRYPTOCURRENCY AS LEGAL TENDER IN CERTAIN

16 COUNTRIES.— 

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

18 the submittal of the report required by subsection 

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

20 heads of other relevant Federal departments and 

21 agencies, shall submit to the appropriate committees 

22 of Congress a plan to mitigate any potential risk to 

23 the United States financial system posed by the 

24 adoption of a cryptocurrency as legal tender in— 

25 (A) El Salvador; and 


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1 (B) any other country that uses the United 

2 States dollar as legal tender. 

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

4 after the date on which the plan is submitted under 

5 paragraph (1), the Secretary of State shall com6 mence implementation of the plan. 

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

8 after the submittal of the report required by subsection 

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

10 of other relevant Federal departments and agencies, shall 

11 submit to the appropriate committees of Congress an up12 dated version of such report, including a description of any 

13 significant development related to the risks to the United 

14 States financial system posed by the use of a 

15 cryptocurrency as legal tender in El Salvador. 

16 (e) APPROPRIATE COMMITTEES OF CONGRESS DE17 FINED.—In this section, the term ‘‘appropriate commit18 tees of Congress’’ means— 

19 (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations and 

20 the Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Af21 fairs of the Senate; and 

22 (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the 

23 Committee on Financial Services of the House of 

24 Representatives. 

Æ 


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