Bitcoin is now legal tender in El Salvador

El Salvador has become the first country in the world to make Bitcoin legal tender, despite surveys showing widespread scepticism about the move. The government has invested more than $20 million in the cryptocurrency in recent days, saying it will open up access to banking for many Salvadorans. Bitcoin will be accepted for payments in parallel with the US dollar. Also today, millions of Americans have lost their unemployment benefits as several pandemic-era welfare programmes have expired.

The value of Bitcoin has plunged by more than 10 percent after El Salvador on Tuesday became the first country in the world to accept the cryptocurrency as legal tender. The launch was marred by protests and technical difficulties with the digital wallet app, which had to be taken offline for several hours. Also today, we report on tourism businesses in the southwest of France that have benefitted from the recent spell of good weather, which has prolonged their summer season.

Thousands of Salvadorans march in San Salvador against the use of bitcoin in the economy and against a decree that ordered the dismissal of a third of the nation’s judges.

In the quiet Texas town of Rockdale, North America's largest bitcoin mine is part of an already bustling US business now boosted by Beijing's intensified crypto crackdown that has pushed the industry west.

Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Saturday.⁣

An internet watchdog said an operator of the Israeli firm NSO Group's Pegasus was working almost exclusively in El Salvador in early 2020. El Salvador government denied using the sophisticated spyware.

The price of Bitcoin dipped in early trading on Wednesday, after the US Justice Department announced it had arrested two people and seized Bitcoin worth $3.6 billion that was stolen from the exchange Bitfinex in 2016. The investigation is being closely watched by players in the cryptocurrency sector as to how investigators are tracking criminal activity involving the tokens. Also today, we report on protests in Argentina against the latest agreement with the International Monetary Fund.

Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Friday.⁣

Find these stories and much more when you grab a copy of The Guardian on Tuesday.⁣

In September 2021, El Salvador became the first nation in the world to make bitcoin its official currency, along with the US dollar. The experiment in the small Central American country was considered groundbreaking by some and too risky by others. Seven months on, our regional correspondents take a look at how it has changed the lives of Salvadorians, for better or for worse.

Although El Salvador has seen a fall in the number of homicides, the country suffers from another type of crime that the government avoids talking about. Gangs are stepping up kidnappings and forced disappearances, terrorising the most vulnerable, who increasingly end up dead. Faced with the authorities' silence, who keep no official register, victims' loved ones are speaking out. Our regional correspondents Laurence Cuvillier and Matthieu Comin report.

Central African Republic and El Salvador have made Bitcoin legal tender and Panama has approved a bill to regulate crypto assets. Experts have warned that nations that adopt crypto currencies risk instability.