El Salvador's president says he will make the Bitcoin cryptocurrency legal tender in the country, BBC reported.

President Nayib Bukele says Bitcoin will make it easier for Salvadorans living abroad to send payments home.

"In the short term, this will generate jobs and help provide financial inclusion to thousands outside the formal economy," Bukele told a Bitcoin conference in Florida, adding that it could also boost investment to the country.

Should it pass, the move would open up financial services to the 70% of Salvadorans who do not have bank accounts, the president said.

“Bitcoin has a market cap of $680 billion dollars. If 1% of it is invested in El Salvador, that would increase our GDP by 25%. On the other side, Bitcoin will have 10 million potential new users and the fastest growing way to transfer 6 billion dollars a year in remittances,” he wrote on Twitter.

If his plan is backed by congress, the Central American country would be first in the world to formally adopt the digital currency.

El Salvador does not have its own currency, and the US dollar is used as legal tender in the country.