Myanmar’s shadow government declares USDT as official currency
The National Unity Government (NUG), Myanmar’s shadow government that is led by the supporters of jailed leader Aung San Suu Kyi, has recently declared that the United States dollar-based stablecoin – Tether (USDT) is now an official currency for local use.
According to a report published in Bloomberg, the NUG would readily accept Tether for its ongoing fundraising campaign while seeking to topple the current military regime in the country.
The shadow government has also raised $9.5 million through the sale of “Spring Revolution Special Treasury Bonds” that had been offered to the Myanmar diaspora across the world. The group is aimed at raising $1 billion through the sale of NUG-issued bonds.
The NUG Ministry of Planning, Finance, and Investment have posted the currency adoption announcement through Facebook on Monday, December 13.
The NUG’s decision of making Tether the official currency has undermined the crypto ban that was imposed by the Central Bank of Myanmar in back in May 2020.
The incorporation of Tether as an official legal currency for local use has been prompted by privacy concerns as well as the seizure of funds by the current regime.
The NUG Finance Minister has said that the primary reason behind Tether’s incorporation into local usage is to make domestic use “easy” and “speed up the current trade, services, and payment systems.”
The NUG had been recognized as the official government authority of Myanmar by the French Senate and the European parliament jointly in October 2021; however, the United States hasn’t made any updates in this direction.
The NUG’s decision of accepting and using Tether stablecoin can become a point of discussion among other nations, especially at a time when the US government has been looking to impose strict stablecoin issuance policies.
