The World Bank has rejected El Salvador's request for assistance in the country's transition to adopting Bitcoin as legal tender.
Issues with Bitcoin's environmental impact and transparency were cited as reasons why it will not support El Salvador's transition to adopting Bitcoin as an officially accepted currency.
"While the government has approached us for help with Bitcoin, it is not something the World Bank can support given the environmental and transparency deficiencies," a World Bank spokesperson said.
However, the World Bank noted that it can help El Salvador in other ways, including "monetary transparency and regulatory processes."
Earlier on Wednesday, Salvadoran Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya said the Central American country had requested technical assistance from Banco Mundial (World Bank).
Bitcoin advocate Anthony Pompliano tweeted in response to the news that "the World Bank has not figured out how to monetize Bitcoin."
Samson Mow, CSO of blockchain development company Blockstream and creator of the game Infinite Fleet, was annoyed by the news - and called for the World Bank to be made obsolete.
