# Bitcoin Policy and Sovereign Adoption: Law, Regulation, Reserves and State Industry

*A country can regulate exchanges without recognizing Bitcoin as money, recognize it in payment law without proving widespread use, mine it through a state company without publishing a reserve balance, or hold forfeited coins without buying them in the market. The record becomes intelligible only when those actions remain on separate axes.*

- Research question: What did governments actually do with Bitcoin, and which legal or balance-sheet conclusions follow from each action?
- Canonical: https://degreesofsatoshi.com/history/bitcoin-policy-government-and-sovereign-adoption/
- Published 2026-08-09 · last reviewed 2026-08-09 · covers 2013-03-18/2025-12-10
- Author: Degrees of Satoshi editorial project (https://degreesofsatoshi.com/authors/degrees-of-satoshi-editorial-project/)
- Citation files: https://degreesofsatoshi.com/history/bitcoin-policy-government-and-sovereign-adoption/citation.bib · https://degreesofsatoshi.com/history/bitcoin-policy-government-and-sovereign-adoption/citation.ris · https://degreesofsatoshi.com/history/bitcoin-policy-government-and-sovereign-adoption/citation.csl.json
- Evidence data: https://degreesofsatoshi.com/history/bitcoin-policy-government-and-sovereign-adoption/evidence.json

## Key finding

Sovereign Bitcoin policy did not converge on one model through 2025: two national legal-tender experiments were enacted and then materially narrowed or reversed, while regulated-market frameworks, state mining, a forfeiture-capitalized reserve, and a central-bank pilot expanded on legally distinct tracks. ([Original Bitcoin Law record](https://www.asamblea.gob.sv/node/11282); [Decree 199 reforms to the Bitcoin Law](https://www.asamblea.gob.sv/sites/default/files/documents/decretos/FC2C7E66-490B-4420-B8B5-221C2F2A4C28.pdf); [Central African Republic first ECF review](https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/002/2023/362/article-A001-en.xml); [Japan crypto-asset regulatory framework](https://www.fsa.go.jp/en/newsletter/accessfsa2020/201.pdf); [Law 14,478](https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2019-2022/2022/lei/l14478.htm); [Regulation (EU) 2023/1114](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1114/oj); [Bhutan 21st Century Economic Roadmap: 10X National Economic Vision](https://pmo.gov.bt/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/document-1753155904040.pdf); [Strategic Bitcoin Reserve executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/establishment-of-the-strategic-bitcoin-reserve-and-united-states-digital-asset-stockpile/); [CNB creates a test portfolio of digital assets](https://www.cnb.cz/en/cnb-news/press-releases/The-CNB-creates-a-test-portfolio-of-digital-assets/))

## Verified record

| Date | Jurisdiction | Policy axis | Verified action | Boundary on the claim | Source |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 18 March 2013 | United States | Financial regulation | FinCEN said ordinary users of convertible virtual currency were not money-services businesses, while administrators and exchangers generally fell within money-transmitter rules. | An anti-money-laundering classification was not legal-tender recognition or an investment endorsement. | [Application of FinCEN regulations to virtual currency](https://www.fincen.gov/resources/statutes-regulations/guidance/application-fincens-regulations-persons-administering) |
| 17 September 2015 | United States | Market classification | The CFTC's Coinflip order treated bitcoin and other virtual currencies as commodities covered by the Commodity Exchange Act. | Commodity jurisdiction did not make every bitcoin market a regulated futures market. | [Coinflip enforcement order announcement](https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/7231-15) |
| 1 April 2017 | Japan | Regulated market | Amendments to the Payment Services Act established registration, anti-money-laundering, and customer-protection requirements for crypto-asset exchange services. | The FSA states that crypto-assets are not legal tender and are not government-guaranteed money. | [Japan crypto-asset regulatory framework](https://www.fsa.go.jp/en/newsletter/accessfsa2020/201.pdf) |
| 6 April 2018; 4 March 2020 | India | Banking access | An RBI circular restricted regulated entities from servicing virtual-currency activity; the Supreme Court later set that circular aside. | The reversal did not remove ordinary KYC, anti-money-laundering, or foreign-exchange obligations. | [Customer due diligence for virtual-currency transactions](https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_CircularIndexDisplay.aspx?Id=12103) |
| 15 March 2020 | United States | Monetary conditions | The Federal Reserve cut the federal-funds target range to 0–0.25% and announced purchases of at least $500 billion of Treasury securities and $200 billion of agency mortgage-backed securities. | The action changed the dollar-market backdrop; it did not change Bitcoin issuance or prove a causal effect on BTC price. | [Federal Reserve monetary policy actions](https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20200315a.htm) |
| 22 July 2020 | United States | Bank custody | The OCC clarified that national banks and federal savings associations could provide cryptocurrency custody services, including safekeeping cryptographic keys. | Customer custody is a service activity, not a bank treasury purchase. | [Federally chartered banks may provide crypto custody](https://www.occ.treas.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2020/nr-occ-2020-98.html) |
| 7 September 2021 | El Salvador | Payment law | Decree 57 entered into force with legal-tender status, mandatory acceptance by economic agents, tax-payment authority, and state-supported dollar convertibility. | A statutory payment rule did not establish household ownership, merchant use, or a reserve balance. | [Original Bitcoin Law record](https://www.asamblea.gob.sv/node/11282) |
| 24 September 2021 | China | Financial restriction | A multi-agency notice characterized virtual-currency-related business activities as illegal financial activities and denied virtual currencies legal status equivalent to fiat money. | The notice should not be paraphrased as proof that protocol operation or every form of private possession was technically eliminated. | [Notice on virtual-currency transaction speculation risks](https://www.pbc.gov.cn/tiaofasi/144941/3581332/4348658/index.html) |
| 3 November 2021 | United States | Monetary conditions | The Federal Reserve announced that it would begin reducing the monthly pace of net asset purchases by $10 billion for Treasuries and $5 billion for agency mortgage-backed securities. | A policy-regime marker is not a Bitcoin protocol event or a controlled price experiment. | [Minutes of the November 2021 FOMC meeting](https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/fomcminutes20211103.htm) |
| 16 March 2022 | United States | Monetary conditions | The Federal Reserve raised the federal-funds target range to 0.25–0.50%, the first increase in that tightening cycle. | Temporal overlap with a Bitcoin drawdown does not establish that the rate decision was its sole or measured cause. | [Federal Reserve raises the target range](https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20220316a.htm) |
| 22 April 2022; 6 April 2023 | Central African Republic | Payment law | Law 22.004 gave crypto-assets legal-tender and guaranteed-convertibility status; revised Law 23.005 removed both features. | The short legal interval did not demonstrate broad household payment use. | [Central African Republic first ECF review](https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/002/2023/362/article-A001-en.xml) |
| 21 December 2022 | Brazil | Regulated market | Law 14,478 created a federal framework for virtual-asset service providers. | The framework regulated intermediaries; it did not make bitcoin sovereign money or a reserve asset. | [Law 14,478](https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2019-2022/2022/lei/l14478.htm) |
| 20 June 2023 | Brazil | Regulatory authority | Decree 11,563 assigned regulation, authorization, and supervision of virtual-asset service providers to the central bank. | Assigning an authority did not turn regulated private assets into central-bank liabilities. | [Decree 11,563](https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2023-2026/2023/decreto/d11563.htm) |
| 29 June 2023; 30 December 2024 | European Union | Regional regulation | MiCA entered into force in 2023; token-specific provisions applied from 30 June 2024 and the broader regime from 30 December 2024. | A common licensing and disclosure regime is not legal-tender recognition by 27 member states. | [Regulation (EU) 2023/1114](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1114/oj) |
| 26 July 2023 | United States | Monetary conditions | The Federal Reserve raised the federal-funds target range to 5.25–5.50%, the tightening cycle’s highest range. | The selected macro marker does not identify a Bitcoin price effect. | [Federal Reserve raises the target range to 5.25–5.50 percent](https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20230726a.htm) |
| 10 January 2024 | United States | Securities access | The SEC approved exchange rule changes permitting the listing and trading of multiple spot bitcoin exchange-traded product shares. | The approval was limited to ETP listing rules and was not an endorsement of bitcoin. | [Statement on spot bitcoin ETP approvals](https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/gensler-statement-spot-bitcoin-011023) |
| 31 July 2024 | United States | Monetary conditions | The Federal Reserve maintained the 5.25–5.50% target range at the final scheduled decision before easing began. | A peak-rate hold is market context, not a Bitcoin consensus event. | [Federal Reserve maintains the peak target range](https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20240731a.htm) |
| 18 September 2024 | United States | Monetary conditions | The Federal Reserve lowered the target range by 0.50 percentage point to 4.75–5.00%. | The start of easing does not prove that later Bitcoin returns came from the rate decision. | [Federal Reserve begins easing](https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20240918a.htm) |
| 29 January; 30 April 2025 | El Salvador | Payment law revised | Decree 199 retained the phrase `curso legal` while making private acceptance voluntary and removing mandatory acceptance, bitcoin tax payments, and the state's conversion obligation. | The accurate description is a retained legal designation with its essential mandatory features removed, not an uncomplicated repeal or an unchanged regime. | [Decree 199 reforms to the Bitcoin Law](https://www.asamblea.gob.sv/sites/default/files/documents/decretos/FC2C7E66-490B-4420-B8B5-221C2F2A4C28.pdf) |
| 6 March 2025 | United States | Public balance sheet | An executive order created a Strategic Bitcoin Reserve capitalized with finally forfeited federal BTC and directed that deposited BTC not be sold. | It did not authorize an unrestricted taxpayer-funded market-buying program or publish an audited coin total. | [Strategic Bitcoin Reserve executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/establishment-of-the-strategic-bitcoin-reserve-and-united-states-digital-asset-stockpile/) |
| 13 November 2025 | Czechia | Central-bank experiment | The Czech National Bank created a $1 million test portfolio containing bitcoin, a dollar stablecoin, and a tokenized deposit. | The bank placed the portfolio outside international reserves and did not disclose the bitcoin component. | [CNB creates a test portfolio of digital assets](https://www.cnb.cz/en/cnb-news/press-releases/The-CNB-creates-a-test-portfolio-of-digital-assets/) |
| 10 December 2025 | United States | Monetary conditions | The Federal Reserve lowered the target range to 3.50–3.75%, the selected end-2025 policy coordinate. | This endpoint completes a policy sequence; it is not a Bitcoin valuation model. | [Federal Reserve lowers the target range to 3.50–3.75 percent](https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20251210a.htm) |

## Sovereign adoption needs a noun before it needs a ranking {#adoption-needs-a-noun}

The phrase ‘a country adopted Bitcoin’ can refer to incompatible facts. Legislators may change what discharges a debt. A financial regulator may license exchanges. A court may reopen banking access. A state-owned company may mine. A treasury may control coins obtained through purchase, mining, seizure, or forfeiture. A central bank may run a small operational test outside its reserves. Each action has a different legal actor, asset owner, transmission mechanism, and evidentiary record.

This dossier therefore uses five coordinates: payment law, regulated market access, public balance-sheet control, state industry, and experiment. The coordinates can coexist, reverse, or remain absent. They should not be summed into a score because the units are not commensurable. A licensing statute does not equal a bitcoin balance; a bitcoin balance does not measure citizen usage; and legal tender does not prove that a merchant received a bitcoin transaction.

Sources: [Original Bitcoin Law record](https://www.asamblea.gob.sv/node/11282); [Japan crypto-asset regulatory framework](https://www.fsa.go.jp/en/newsletter/accessfsa2020/201.pdf); [Customer due diligence for virtual-currency transactions](https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_CircularIndexDisplay.aspx?Id=12103); [Bhutan 21st Century Economic Roadmap: 10X National Economic Vision](https://pmo.gov.bt/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/document-1753155904040.pdf); [Strategic Bitcoin Reserve executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/establishment-of-the-strategic-bitcoin-reserve-and-united-states-digital-asset-stockpile/); [CNB creates a test portfolio of digital assets](https://www.cnb.cz/en/cnb-news/press-releases/The-CNB-creates-a-test-portfolio-of-digital-assets/)

## Governments first made Bitcoin legible to existing rulebooks {#classification-before-adoption}

Early United States actions illustrate classification rather than monetary recognition. FinCEN's 2013 guidance distinguished users from administrators and exchangers under money-transmission rules. The IRS treated convertible virtual currency as property for federal tax purposes in 2014. The CFTC's 2015 Coinflip order placed bitcoin and other virtual currencies within commodity jurisdiction for derivatives enforcement. These categories can all apply to the same asset because they answer different statutory questions.

Japan's exchange-registration regime began in April 2017 with anti-money-laundering, segregation, and customer-information duties. The FSA has repeatedly warned that crypto-assets are not legal tender. India's 2018 banking circular and its 2020 judicial reversal show that access rules can change without turning Bitcoin into sovereign money. China's 2021 notice took a restrictive direction by defining virtual-currency-related business as illegal financial activity. None of these records can be reduced to a binary map of countries that ‘accept’ or ‘ban’ Bitcoin.

Sources: [Application of FinCEN regulations to virtual currency](https://www.fincen.gov/resources/statutes-regulations/guidance/application-fincens-regulations-persons-administering); [Notice 2014-21](https://www.irs.gov/irb/2014-16_IRB#NOT-2014-21); [Coinflip enforcement order announcement](https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/7231-15); [Japan crypto-asset regulatory framework](https://www.fsa.go.jp/en/newsletter/accessfsa2020/201.pdf); [Customer due diligence for virtual-currency transactions](https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_CircularIndexDisplay.aspx?Id=12103); [Notice on virtual-currency transaction speculation risks](https://www.pbc.gov.cn/tiaofasi/144941/3581332/4348658/index.html)

## The two national legal-tender experiments did not remain intact {#legal-tender-experiments}

El Salvador's Decree 57 was enacted on 8 June 2021 and entered into force on 7 September. It gave Bitcoin legal-tender status, required economic agents to accept it when offered, allowed tax payments, and committed the state to conversion infrastructure. That combination was unusually broad. Yet legal design and observed use diverged: the IMF's later review summarized evidence of limited transaction use and noted that public support did not make Bitcoin a common unit of account.

Decree 199, enacted in January 2025 and reflected in the consolidated law from 30 April, retained legal-tender wording but made acceptance voluntary and private. It removed compulsory acceptance, bitcoin tax payments, state alternatives for transactions, and automatic state-backed conversion. Central African Republic followed a different path. Its April 2022 crypto law created legal-tender and convertibility provisions, but revised Law 23.005 removed those provisions on 6 April 2023 to restore consistency with the regional CEMAC monetary framework.

Sources: [Original Bitcoin Law record](https://www.asamblea.gob.sv/node/11282); [Decree 199 reforms to the Bitcoin Law](https://www.asamblea.gob.sv/sites/default/files/documents/decretos/FC2C7E66-490B-4420-B8B5-221C2F2A4C28.pdf); [El Salvador extended-fund-facility staff report](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/cr/2025/english/1slvea2025001-print-pdf.pdf); [Central African Republic first ECF review](https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/002/2023/362/article-A001-en.xml)

## Monetary policy changed Bitcoin’s dollar backdrop, not its issuance rule {#monetary-policy-as-market-context}

On 15 March 2020, the Federal Reserve lowered the federal-funds target range to 0–0.25 percent and announced purchases of at least $500 billion in Treasury securities and $200 billion in agency mortgage-backed securities. In November 2021 it announced the first taper in that purchase pace.

The range rose from 0.25–0.50 percent in March 2022 to a cycle high of 5.25–5.50 percent in July 2023, where it was still held in July 2024. Easing began with a half-point cut to 4.75–5.00 percent on 18 September 2024; the selected end-2025 coordinate was 3.50–3.75 percent on 10 December 2025. Together these records describe easing, tightening, a peak hold, and renewed easing rather than stopping the macro history at liftoff.

They did not change Bitcoin’s code, block subsidy, difficulty rule, or maximum supply. Plotting BTC/USD beside the effective federal-funds rate, the Federal Reserve balance sheet, or consumer prices can establish co-movement and regime timing; it cannot by itself isolate causation. Bitcoin price also reflects leverage, exchange access, risk appetite, custody failures, regulation, and asset-specific demand. The responsible historical claim is that monetary policy formed part of the changing macroeconomic context—not that one central-bank decision mechanically produced one Bitcoin rally or winter.

Sources: [Federal Reserve monetary policy actions](https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20200315a.htm); [Minutes of the November 2021 FOMC meeting](https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/fomcminutes20211103.htm); [Federal Reserve raises the target range](https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20220316a.htm); [Federal Reserve raises the target range to 5.25–5.50 percent](https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20230726a.htm); [Federal Reserve maintains the peak target range](https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20240731a.htm); [Federal Reserve begins easing](https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20240918a.htm); [Federal Reserve lowers the target range to 3.50–3.75 percent](https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20251210a.htm)

## Regulated access expanded without making Bitcoin sovereign money {#regulated-access-without-sovereign-money}

Brazil's Law 14,478 defined virtual-asset services and required federal authorization. Decree 11,563 then designated the Banco Central do Brasil to regulate, authorize, and supervise covered providers from 20 June 2023. The framework gives firms a path into a supervised market and gives customers legal protections. It neither denominates public obligations in bitcoin nor places bitcoin in official reserves. Calling this ‘legalization’ without describing the regulated activity erases the statute's actual scope.

The European Union's Markets in Crypto-Assets Regulation created a broader regional architecture for issuers and service providers. Its staged application in 2024 added disclosure, governance, authorization, and conduct requirements, with transitional provisions for some existing providers. In the United States, the SEC's January 2024 approval allowed spot bitcoin ETP shares onto national securities exchanges. That decision widened securities-account access to price exposure while leaving the trust, custodian, shareholder, and underlying coins as distinct legal claims.

Sources: [Law 14,478](https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2019-2022/2022/lei/l14478.htm); [Decree 11,563](https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2023-2026/2023/decreto/d11563.htm); [Regulation (EU) 2023/1114](https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1114/oj); [Statement on spot bitcoin ETP approvals](https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/gensler-statement-spot-bitcoin-011023)

## Mining, forfeiture, purchase, and a pilot create different public exposures {#state-balance-sheets-and-industry}

Bhutan's official long-term plan reports that Druk Holding and Investments began mining, primarily bitcoin, at a 420-megawatt facility in 2022 and that Bitdeer began operating a 100-megawatt facility in 2023. This is direct evidence of state industrial participation and energy allocation. It is not, by itself, a current wallet audit, a legal-tender decision, or a survey of Bhutanese usage. Any estimate of coins produced or retained needs an additional source and a stated methodology.

The United States reserve order of March 2025 initially capitalized the reserve with finally forfeited federal BTC. Coins deposited into the reserve were not to be sold, while any additional acquisition strategy had to be budget-neutral and impose no incremental taxpayer cost. Czechia's central bank took a much smaller experimental route in November 2025: a capped $1 million portfolio containing bitcoin and two other digital instruments, outside international reserves. Neither event establishes open-ended sovereign market demand.

Sources: [Bhutan 21st Century Economic Roadmap: 10X National Economic Vision](https://pmo.gov.bt/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/document-1753155904040.pdf); [Bhutan: 2024 Article IV Consultation](https://www.imf.org/en/publications/cr/issues/2024/09/19/bhutan-2024-article-iv-consultation-press-release-staff-report-and-statement-by-the-555108); [Strategic Bitcoin Reserve executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/establishment-of-the-strategic-bitcoin-reserve-and-united-states-digital-asset-stockpile/); [CNB creates a test portfolio of digital assets](https://www.cnb.cz/en/cnb-news/press-releases/The-CNB-creates-a-test-portfolio-of-digital-assets/)

## A defensible country record follows authority, funding, control, and use {#how-to-audit-sovereign-claims}

Every sovereign claim should answer four questions. Which body acted: legislature, regulator, court, executive, treasury, central bank, or state company? What authority changed: payment discharge, licensing, taxation, custody, asset management, or industrial production? How was any bitcoin obtained: purchase, mining, forfeiture, donation, or customer custody? What evidence describes use: transactions, merchant surveys, household surveys, or merely a statutory possibility? The answers prevent category errors before they enter a chart.

Status also needs an end date. A law can be amended, an administrative circular can be invalidated, an ETP can hold coins while its sponsor owns none of them, and a pilot can remain outside reserves. For that reason, the evidence artifact records changes rather than a permanent national label. The historical authority comes from preserving reversals and limits alongside firsts—not from maximizing the number of countries colored orange on a map.

Sources: [Original Bitcoin Law record](https://www.asamblea.gob.sv/node/11282); [Decree 199 reforms to the Bitcoin Law](https://www.asamblea.gob.sv/sites/default/files/documents/decretos/FC2C7E66-490B-4420-B8B5-221C2F2A4C28.pdf); [Customer due diligence for virtual-currency transactions](https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_CircularIndexDisplay.aspx?Id=12103); [Statement on spot bitcoin ETP approvals](https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/gensler-statement-spot-bitcoin-011023); [Bhutan 21st Century Economic Roadmap: 10X National Economic Vision](https://pmo.gov.bt/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/document-1753155904040.pdf); [Strategic Bitcoin Reserve executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/establishment-of-the-strategic-bitcoin-reserve-and-united-states-digital-asset-stockpile/); [CNB creates a test portfolio of digital assets](https://www.cnb.cz/en/cnb-news/press-releases/The-CNB-creates-a-test-portfolio-of-digital-assets/)

## Claims and their limits

- El Salvador's 2025 reform retained legal-tender wording while making private acceptance voluntary and removing the original mandatory public mechanisms. ([Decree 199 reforms to the Bitcoin Law](https://www.asamblea.gob.sv/sites/default/files/documents/decretos/FC2C7E66-490B-4420-B8B5-221C2F2A4C28.pdf); [El Salvador extended-fund-facility staff report](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/cr/2025/english/1slvea2025001-print-pdf.pdf))
- Central African Republic removed the legal-tender and guaranteed-convertibility provisions of its 2022 crypto law in April 2023. ([Central African Republic first ECF review](https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/002/2023/362/article-A001-en.xml))
- The United States Strategic Bitcoin Reserve was initially defined around finally forfeited government BTC, not an unrestricted taxpayer-funded purchase mandate. ([Strategic Bitcoin Reserve executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/establishment-of-the-strategic-bitcoin-reserve-and-united-states-digital-asset-stockpile/))
- The Czech National Bank's $1 million digital-asset portfolio included bitcoin but remained outside its international reserves. ([CNB creates a test portfolio of digital assets](https://www.cnb.cz/en/cnb-news/press-releases/The-CNB-creates-a-test-portfolio-of-digital-assets/))
- Bhutan's official plan records state-company mining activity beginning in 2022, but does not publish an audited sovereign bitcoin balance. ([Bhutan 21st Century Economic Roadmap: 10X National Economic Vision](https://pmo.gov.bt/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/document-1753155904040.pdf); [Bhutan: 2024 Article IV Consultation](https://www.imf.org/en/publications/cr/issues/2024/09/19/bhutan-2024-article-iv-consultation-press-release-staff-report-and-statement-by-the-555108))
- Selected Federal Reserve records trace a 0–0.25 percent emergency range in March 2020, a 5.25–5.50 percent tightening peak in July 2023, easing from September 2024, and a 3.50–3.75 percent endpoint in December 2025 without changing Bitcoin’s deterministic issuance rules. ([Federal Reserve monetary policy actions](https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20200315a.htm); [Federal Reserve raises the target range](https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20220316a.htm); [Federal Reserve raises the target range to 5.25–5.50 percent](https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20230726a.htm); [Federal Reserve maintains the peak target range](https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20240731a.htm); [Federal Reserve begins easing](https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20240918a.htm); [Federal Reserve lowers the target range to 3.50–3.75 percent](https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20251210a.htm))
- A multi-axis record is more accurate than a single national adoption rank because the cited policies operate through distinct legal and economic mechanisms. ([Japan crypto-asset regulatory framework](https://www.fsa.go.jp/en/newsletter/accessfsa2020/201.pdf); [Law 14,478](https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2019-2022/2022/lei/l14478.htm); [Strategic Bitcoin Reserve executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/establishment-of-the-strategic-bitcoin-reserve-and-united-states-digital-asset-stockpile/); [CNB creates a test portfolio of digital assets](https://www.cnb.cz/en/cnb-news/press-releases/The-CNB-creates-a-test-portfolio-of-digital-assets/); [Bhutan 21st Century Economic Roadmap: 10X National Economic Vision](https://pmo.gov.bt/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/document-1753155904040.pdf))

## Caveats

- Legal tender, mandatory acceptance, and practical transaction use are different propositions. El Salvador's current wording requires especially careful treatment because the designation remains while acceptance is voluntary.
- A government-controlled address, a public-sector accounting statement, and a blockchain attribution have different evidentiary strengths; do not combine them into an exact sovereign holdings total without reconciliation.
- State-owned mining proves industrial participation, not how much bitcoin was produced, retained, sold, pledged, or held on the reporting date.
- A regulator's authorization of intermediaries or securities products is not an endorsement of Bitcoin and does not make it sovereign money.
- Country selection is illustrative rather than exhaustive. Absence from the table is not evidence that a jurisdiction had no relevant law.
- Charts aligning Bitcoin price with interest rates, central-bank assets, or inflation document timing and correlation; they do not establish that monetary policy caused Bitcoin returns.

## Questions this dossier answers

### Did El Salvador repeal Bitcoin legal tender?

The 2025 reform retained the phrase `curso legal`, but made private acceptance voluntary and removed mandatory acceptance, bitcoin tax payments, automatic state conversion, and other public mechanisms. The precise description is a retained legal designation with its mandatory core removed. ([Decree 199 reforms to the Bitcoin Law](https://www.asamblea.gob.sv/sites/default/files/documents/decretos/FC2C7E66-490B-4420-B8B5-221C2F2A4C28.pdf); [El Salvador extended-fund-facility staff report](https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/cr/2025/english/1slvea2025001-print-pdf.pdf))

### Which countries made Bitcoin legal tender?

El Salvador and Central African Republic enacted national legal-tender regimes. Central African Republic removed its tender and convertibility provisions in 2023; El Salvador materially narrowed its regime in 2025, so the enactment dates alone do not describe current law. ([Original Bitcoin Law record](https://www.asamblea.gob.sv/node/11282); [Decree 199 reforms to the Bitcoin Law](https://www.asamblea.gob.sv/sites/default/files/documents/decretos/FC2C7E66-490B-4420-B8B5-221C2F2A4C28.pdf); [Central African Republic first ECF review](https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/002/2023/362/article-A001-en.xml))

### Does the U.S. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve require government Bitcoin purchases?

No. The March 2025 order initially capitalized the reserve with finally forfeited federal BTC and required any additional acquisition strategy to be budget-neutral and impose no incremental taxpayer cost. It did not fund an unrestricted buying program. ([Strategic Bitcoin Reserve executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/establishment-of-the-strategic-bitcoin-reserve-and-united-states-digital-asset-stockpile/))

### Does regulating Bitcoin mean a country adopted it as money?

No. Exchange licensing, tax treatment, bank custody, securities access, payment law, state mining, and public holdings are different government actions. A rigorous comparison names the legal actor and policy axis instead of converting them into one adoption score. ([Japan crypto-asset regulatory framework](https://www.fsa.go.jp/en/newsletter/accessfsa2020/201.pdf); [Notice 2014-21](https://www.irs.gov/irb/2014-16_IRB#NOT-2014-21); [Federally chartered banks may provide crypto custody](https://www.occ.treas.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2020/nr-occ-2020-98.html); [Statement on spot bitcoin ETP approvals](https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/gensler-statement-spot-bitcoin-011023); [Original Bitcoin Law record](https://www.asamblea.gob.sv/node/11282); [Bhutan 21st Century Economic Roadmap: 10X National Economic Vision](https://pmo.gov.bt/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/document-1753155904040.pdf); [Strategic Bitcoin Reserve executive order](https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/establishment-of-the-strategic-bitcoin-reserve-and-united-states-digital-asset-stockpile/))

## Sources

1. Application of FinCEN regulations to virtual currency, Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. https://www.fincen.gov/resources/statutes-regulations/guidance/application-fincens-regulations-persons-administering
2. Notice 2014-21, Internal Revenue Service. https://www.irs.gov/irb/2014-16_IRB#NOT-2014-21
3. Coinflip enforcement order announcement, Commodity Futures Trading Commission. https://www.cftc.gov/PressRoom/PressReleases/7231-15
4. Japan crypto-asset regulatory framework, Financial Services Agency of Japan. https://www.fsa.go.jp/en/newsletter/accessfsa2020/201.pdf
5. Customer due diligence for virtual-currency transactions, Reserve Bank of India. https://www.rbi.org.in/Scripts/BS_CircularIndexDisplay.aspx?Id=12103
6. Federally chartered banks may provide crypto custody, Office of the Comptroller of the Currency. https://www.occ.treas.gov/news-issuances/news-releases/2020/nr-occ-2020-98.html
7. Original Bitcoin Law record, Legislative Assembly of El Salvador. https://www.asamblea.gob.sv/node/11282
8. Decree 199 reforms to the Bitcoin Law, Legislative Assembly of El Salvador. https://www.asamblea.gob.sv/sites/default/files/documents/decretos/FC2C7E66-490B-4420-B8B5-221C2F2A4C28.pdf
9. El Salvador extended-fund-facility staff report, International Monetary Fund. https://www.imf.org/-/media/files/publications/cr/2025/english/1slvea2025001-print-pdf.pdf
10. Notice on virtual-currency transaction speculation risks, People's Bank of China and nine other authorities. https://www.pbc.gov.cn/tiaofasi/144941/3581332/4348658/index.html
11. Central African Republic first ECF review, International Monetary Fund. https://www.elibrary.imf.org/view/journals/002/2023/362/article-A001-en.xml
12. Law 14,478, Presidency of Brazil. https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2019-2022/2022/lei/l14478.htm
13. Decree 11,563, Presidency of Brazil. https://www.planalto.gov.br/ccivil_03/_ato2023-2026/2023/decreto/d11563.htm
14. Regulation (EU) 2023/1114, Official Journal of the European Union. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/eli/reg/2023/1114/oj
15. Statement on spot bitcoin ETP approvals, U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. https://www.sec.gov/newsroom/speeches-statements/gensler-statement-spot-bitcoin-011023
16. Bhutan 21st Century Economic Roadmap: 10X National Economic Vision, Office of Cabinet Affairs and Strategic Coordination, Royal Government of Bhutan. https://pmo.gov.bt/wp-content/uploads/2026/02/document-1753155904040.pdf
17. Bhutan: 2024 Article IV Consultation (2024-09-19), International Monetary Fund. https://www.imf.org/en/publications/cr/issues/2024/09/19/bhutan-2024-article-iv-consultation-press-release-staff-report-and-statement-by-the-555108 · doi:10.5089/9798400288241.002
18. Strategic Bitcoin Reserve executive order, The White House. https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/03/establishment-of-the-strategic-bitcoin-reserve-and-united-states-digital-asset-stockpile/
19. CNB creates a test portfolio of digital assets, Czech National Bank. https://www.cnb.cz/en/cnb-news/press-releases/The-CNB-creates-a-test-portfolio-of-digital-assets/
20. Federal Reserve monetary policy actions, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20200315a.htm
21. Minutes of the November 2021 FOMC meeting, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. https://www.federalreserve.gov/monetarypolicy/fomcminutes20211103.htm
22. Federal Reserve raises the target range, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20220316a.htm
23. Federal Reserve raises the target range to 5.25–5.50 percent, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20230726a.htm
24. Federal Reserve maintains the peak target range, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20240731a.htm
25. Federal Reserve begins easing, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20240918a.htm
26. Federal Reserve lowers the target range to 3.50–3.75 percent, Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System. https://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/pressreleases/monetary20251210a.htm

## Cite

Degrees of Satoshi editorial project. “Bitcoin Policy and Sovereign Adoption: Law, Regulation, Reserves and State Industry.” Degrees of Satoshi, published 2026-08-09; last reviewed 2026-08-09. https://degreesofsatoshi.com/history/bitcoin-policy-government-and-sovereign-adoption/

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