Honduras Central Bank Shuns Bitcoin as a Legal Tender Rumor

The El Banco Central de Honduras (BCH), or the Central Bank of the Central American nation has put to bed all rumors that suggest it is mulling the plans to legalize Bitcoin (BTC) as a legal tender. The rumor emanated from a publication from Techstory, allegedly citing anonymous sources. Since the news made headlines on March 22, a lot of prominent names in the digital currency ecosystem have been propagating it, pointing out how much such a move would impact the cryptocurrency world.

Holy cow! This is BIG news if true! Reports saying that Honduras may be next to make #bitcoin into legal tender! https://t.co/vSD5R7AY1F

— Lark Davis (@TheCryptoLark) March 22, 2022

In a press release published by the BCH, the rumors were debunked noting it has no plans to make Bitcoin a legal tender, adding that the Central Bank remains the only issuer of legal tender in the country. The apex bank’s communication was further channeled to a warning for active players in the digital currency ecosystem as the BCH said the nascent asset class that characterizes the market is filled with risks.

“BCH does not supervise or guarantee operations carried out with cryptocurrencies as means of payment,” according to a translated statement by the central bank. “Any transaction carried out with these types of virtual assets is the responsibility and risk of those who do it.”

The Honduras Central Bank Digital Currency Push

Despite its strong stance against private cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH), and Cardano (ADA), the Honduras apex bank has reiterated that it is pushing for the development of a Central Bank Digital Currency (CBDC) in a bid to chart a path for itself in the growing fintech ecosystem.

“We reiterate that the BCH, considering the importance of adopting the technological innovation for offering payment and financial services, continues with the conceptual, technical, and legal study and analysis to determine the feasibility of issuing a central bank digital currency (Central Bank Digital Currency -CBDC-, for its acronym in English) that has the characteristic of being

recognized as legal tender in the country and therefore be regulated and have the support of the BCH,” the bank’s announcement reads.

While Honduras has defined its own part, its close neighbor, El Salvador seems to differ a great deal as the country has legalized the use of Bitcoin as a legal tender as far back as September last year. While the adoption is good on paper, a recent report shows that just about 14% of the businesses in the country have adopted or come to terms with BTC thus far.