VADUZ: Liechtenstein’s Prime Minister Daniel Risch has announced plans to accept Bitcoin as a payment option for state services.

With no international regulations on cryptocurrency established, it is still seen as too volatile to entrust any government savings in the currency. However, the PM stated that any crypto received for as yet unnamed state services will be immediately exchanged for Swiss francs, Liechtenstein’s national currency. No date has been given for the transition, which will make the country the third to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender-behind El Salvador and the Central African Republic. It should be noted that the CAR reversed this decision a year later.

Liechtenstein is the sixth smallest country in the world and in 2019 passed the Liechtenstein Blockchain Act, placing it among the first to pass crypto regulations. PM Risch noted that although Bitcoin will be elevated as a valid form of government payment, it will not be afforded the same legal status as the franc.

Launched in 2009, Bitcoin share values have skyrocketed from fractions of a cent to nearly $69,000 per coin in November 2021. Since then the currency has faced international scrutiny, fraud allegations and a global economic crisis which leaves its value at just below $28,000 per coin as of May 2023.