How El Salvador Plans to Make Government Workers Bitcoin-Aware
El Salvador is preparing to retrain thousands of civil servants as part of a campaign aimed at familiarizing government personnel with Bitcoin-related technology. More than 80,000 Salvadoran civil servants will be trained on how to use Bitcoin technology effectively. Upon completion of the training, these civil servants will receive a certificate. El Salvador became the first country in the world to recognize Bitcoin as legal tender in September 2021. Since then, El Salvador’s President Nayik Bukele has made consistent moves to integrate BTC into the national financial system.
Stacy Herbert, director of El Salvador’s Bitcoin National Bitcoin Office (ONBTC), announced the government’s decision on Wednesday via a after on X (formerly Twitter). “Thousands of El Salvadoran officials will soon receive the highest standard of instruction on Bitcoin. And this will have the compounding effect of excellence begetting more excellence in El Salvador, home to new capital markets on Bitcoin,” Herbert said.
In 2021, President Bukele established the Higher School of Innovation in Public Administration (ESIAP). The country’s BTC certification initiative will be managed by the institute, and the training program’s curriculum is designed to make Bitcoin a prominent part of El Salvador’s governance and public administration practices.
Elaborating on the initiative, official ESIAP site said 160 hours of training material has been designed as part of the course, while some of the training will be conducted virtually. The institute is yet to announce a start date for the training program.
El Salvador’s pro-BTC policies have prompted the Web3 sector to seek business opportunities in the country in recent years. In May, the Jack Dorsey-backed Bitcoin mining pool Ocean established its headquarters in El Salvador. Binance also expanded its operations in the country in 2023.
It has been reported that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has withheld financial aid to El Salvador due to Bukele’s pro-Bitcoin stance. Meanwhile, it comes as no surprise that Bukele is training officials to be Bitcoin-ready, especially given the cryptocurrency’s potential to generate revenue and investment in the country.
