IMF urges El Salvador to drop Bitcoin as legal tender

SAN SALVADOR, El Salvador (AP) — The International Monetary Fund wants El Salvador to drop the highly volatile cryptocurrency Bitcoin as legal tender and strictly regulate the electronic wallet the government has pushed adoption of across the country. The global lender said in a statement on Tuesday that its board urged El Salvador to remove “Bitcoin’s legal tender status.” President Nayib Bukele led the push to adopt Bitcoin alongside the U.S. dollar. El Salvador’s legislature made it the first country to do so in June. After nearly doubling in value late last year, Bitcoin has plunged and on Tuesday was slightly below where it was when the congress voted June 9.