Adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender is on the rise in Latin America. In El Salvador, the world's first nation to embrace BTC in this way, the move is already bearing fruit with the elimination of taxes on technological innovations. Other countries such as Ecuador and Peru are considering similar steps while in Mexico, it is believed there is potential for Bitcoin to bring more prosperity to the entire Latin American region. In Argentina the prospects are bolstered by a pro-Bitcoin Presidential candidate dominating the opinion polls.

Despite pockets of enthusiasm in the continent, Bitcoin still gets a cold reception in many parts of the world - especially in the United States. The latter's government is actively trying to quash the cryptocurrency industry with its latest proposal for introducing a whopping 30% tax on crypto mining operations.

Not everyone is down on Bitcoin, however. JAN3, a cryptocurrency advocacy group, sums up the situation saying it is undeniable that countries with rampant inflation have, out of necessity, been quickest to latch on to the idea of using Bitcoin to protect their income and savings.

At this stage, day-to-day usage of the popular crypto may not be practical due to spiralling transaction fees. The average transaction fee across networks stands at around USD 10, having surged to USD 20 in just a few hours at one point. However, there is a solution in the form of the Lightning Network, which has seen usage shoot up a massive 77% in the last 12 months in terms of operational channels.

Beyond this, its network capacity, currently at a record high of 5,463 Bitcoin, allows for large transactions at minimal cost. This could be the solution to the problem of prohibitive transaction fees for those countries that have already adopted the digital coin. As Instasize CEO Hector Lopez said in a tweet, "How is Visa going to compete?" Time will tell but the Lightning Network looks to become increasingly important as Bitcoin adoption rates grow.



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