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Bitcoin will be adopted as legal tender in three more countries in 2022, predicts the CEO of a global financial giant.

The ultra-bullish prediction from Nigel Green of deVere Group, one of the world鈥檚 largest independent financial advisory, asset management and fintech organisations, doubles down on one made on Sunday by the President of El Salvador.

To his 3.2 million followers, Nayib Bukele tweeted a series of predictions about Bitcoin, including 鈥�2 more countries will adopt it as legal tender.鈥� Amongst the others were that the cryptocurrency will hit $100,000 this year.

El Salvador made history in September by becoming the first country in the world to make Bitcoin an official currency alongside the U.S. dollar.

Mr Green says: 鈥淚鈥檓 confident that the young, maverick President, Nayib Bukele, is correct about other countries adopting Bitcoin as legal tender in 2022.

鈥淏ut I would go further still than he did. I believe that it鈥檚 likely that three more nations will follow El Salvador鈥檚 pioneering, future-focused lead into the digital age.鈥�

He continues: 鈥淟ow-income countries have long suffered because their currencies are weak and extremely vulnerable to market changes and that triggers rampant inflation.

鈥淭his is why most developing countries become reliant upon major 鈥榝irst-world鈥� currencies, such as the U.S. dollar, to complete transactions.

鈥淗owever, reliance on another country鈥檚 currency also comes with its own set of, often very costly, problems. A stronger U.S. dollar, for example, will weigh on emerging-market economic prospects, since developing countries have taken on so much dollar-denominated debt in the past decades.鈥�

The deVere boss goes on to add: 鈥淏y adopting cryptocurrency as legal tender these countries then immediately have a currency that isn鈥檛 influenced by market conditions within their own economy, nor directly from just one other country鈥檚 economy.
 

 
鈥淏itcoin operates on a global scale and therefore is impacted by wider, global economic changes.鈥�

In addition, he notes, cryptocurrencies could also help 鈥渂olster financial inclusion for individuals and businesses鈥� in developing countries as they 鈥渃an circumnavigate the biases鈥� of traditional banks and other financial services providers.

Following President Bukele鈥檚 bold tweet about more countries adopting Bitcoin as legal tender this year, his followers posted opinions about which nations they believe would be likely to do so. These included Tonga, Turkey and Bolivia, to name a few.

For his part, Nigel Green says: 鈥淒ue to their similar reliance on remittances, amongst other factors, other countries, including Panama, Paraguay, Guatemala and Honduras, could also adopt Bitcoin.

鈥淛ust after El Salvador鈥檚 adoption back in September, Panama announced a bill to make the cryptocurrency legal tender in the country. Also, Congressman Gabriel Silva tweeted that this could create jobs in Panama and lure investment from other nations.

鈥淎 Paraguayan bill moving to regulate the trading and mining of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in the country passed the Senate last month. Is this the first step to making Bitcoin legal tender?鈥�

The central banks of Honduras and Guatemala are both eying digital currencies too, according to officials, but they are 鈥� for now – taking a different approach.

鈥淭hey鈥檙e currently studying central bank digital currencies (CBDC). This demonstrates, again, that they too are confident that the future of money is digital.

鈥淗owever, I think they will ultimately embrace an existing cryptocurrency as a legal tender, as El Salvador has done,鈥� says Nigel Green.

He concludes: 鈥淧resident Bukele is right. Other countries will indeed follow El Salvador鈥檚 example and make Bitcoin legal tender in 2022.

鈥淗ow many remains unclear, of course. But when it happens, it will be a snowball effect.鈥�