The unprecedented move on Sept. 7 will require all merchants in the country to accept Bitcoin and dollar payments. To prepare for this change, the Salvadoran government has installed roughly 200 machines that will allow citizens to exchange the cryptocurrency for dollars and withdraw cash, in addition to approving a reserve of 150 million in Bitcoin to facilitate these transactions. The move will remove the heavy fees associated with sending remittances — which account for roughly 20% of the country's GDP — but may also ease the facilitation of money laundering between the United States and El Salvador. Recent polls demonstrate that 67% of Salvadorans disagree with the government's push to make Bitcoin legal tender. Meanwhile, legislators in Panama, Mexico, and Paraguay have proposed similar laws, and more governments across the region are likely watching El Salvador's experiment to evaluate its viability.