Cryptocurrency Bitcoin to become legal tender in El Salvador on Sept 7

San Salvador: El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele said in a national address on Thursday that a recently passed law making bitcoin legal tender will take effect on September 7.

El Salvador's Congress on June 9 approved Bukele's proposal to embrace the cryptocurrency.

Athena Bitcoin plans to invest over $1 million to install cryptocurrency ATMs in El Salvador, especially where residents receive remittances from abroad, a company representative said on Thursday.

According to Athena Bitcoin's website you can use their ATMs to buy bitcoins or sell them for cash, Reuters reported.

The firm expects to gradually install some 1,500 ATMs, hire staff and open an office to carry out operations in El Salvador, which in June became the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender.

"El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele presented us with a tough challenge of 1,500 ATMs. We will go for that, but in phases. We are a private company and we want to ensure that our development in the country is sustainable," said the firm's director for Latin America Matias Goldenhörn.

Bukele has touted the cryptocurrency's potential as a remittance currency for Salvadorans overseas.