ACES Act

Subjects: International Affairs


<html><body><pre>[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1578 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

&lt;DOC&gt;






118th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1578

To require reports on the adoption of cryptocurrency as legal tender in 
                              El Salvador.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                              May 11, 2023

Mr. Risch (for himself and Mr. Menendez) 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 cryptocurrency as legal tender in 
                              El Salvador.

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

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Accountability for Cryptocurrency in 
El Salvador Act'' or the ``ACES Act''.

SEC. 2. REPORTS ON ADOPTION OF CRYPTOCURRENCY AS LEGAL TENDER IN EL 
              SALVADOR.

    (a) In General.--Not later than 120 days after the date of the 
enactment of this Act, the Secretary of State and the Secretary of the 
Treasury shall jointly submit to the appropriate committees of Congress 
a report on the adoption by the Government of El Salvador of a 
cryptocurrency as legal tender.
    (b) Elements.--The report required by subsection (a) shall include 
the following:
            (1) A description of the process followed by the Government 
        of El Salvador to develop and enact the Bitcoin Law 
        (Legislative Decree No. 57, Official Record No. 110, Volume 
        431, enacted June 9, 2021), which provides the cryptocurrency, 
        Bitcoin, with legal tender status in El Salvador.
            (2) An assessment of--
                    (A) potential gaps in the Anti-Money Laundering/
                Combatting the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) 
                framework in El Salvador, and illicit finance risks 
                associated with virtual assets in El Salvador, 
                including El Salvador's adoption of Bitcoin as legal 
                tender;
                    (B) the impact on individuals and businesses of 
                requiring tender of Bitcoin; and
                    (C) the impact of such adoption of a cryptocurrency 
                on--
                            (i) the macroeconomic stability and public 
                        finances of El Salvador, including taxation;
                            (ii) the rule of law and democratic 
                        governance in El Salvador;
                            (iii) the unbanked population in El 
                        Salvador;
                            (iv) the flow of remittances from the 
                        United States to El Salvador;
                            (v) El Salvador's relations with 
                        multilateral financial institutions, such as 
                        the International Monetary Fund and the Word 
                        Bank;
                            (vi) bilateral and international efforts to 
                        combat transnational illicit activities; and
                            (vii) El Salvador's bilateral economic and 
                        commercial relationship with the United States 
                        and the potential for reduced use by El 
                        Salvador of the United States dollar.
            (3) A description of the internet infrastructure of El 
        Salvador and an assessment of--
                    (A) the degree to which cryptocurrency is used in 
                El Salvador;
                    (B) matters relating to chain of custody and the 
                potential for hacking and cybertheft of cryptocurrency; 
                and
                    (C) access to transparent and affordable internet 
                and digital infrastructure among the unbanked 
                population of El Salvador.
    (c) Form.--The report required by subsection (a) shall be submitted 
in unclassified form, but may include a classified annex.
    (d) Appropriate Committees of Congress Defined.--In this section, 
the term ``appropriate committees of Congress'' means--
            (1) the Committee on Foreign Relations and the Committee on 
        Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs of the Senate; and
            (2) the Committee on Foreign Affairs and the Committee on 
        Financial Services of the House of Representatives.
                                 &lt;all&gt;
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