The tiny nation could pay in bitcoin for public services.

Liechtenstein, a landlocked German-speaking country with some 38,000 people in Western Europe, plans to adopt bitcoin as an alternative means of payments, Prime Minister Daniel Risch told the press. 

Any crypto received as payment will likely be immediately exchanged for Swiss francs, Liechtenstein's national currency, and could become an option of payment for public services, including labor in the government.

The principality covering just 160 square kilometers is sandwiched between Switzerland and Austria and is not a member of the European Union, whose Commission is working to deliver the Markets in Crypto Assets regulation. This means the monarchy will have to legislate on its own or adopt by default EU crypto laws to govern crypto operations and protect investors. 

Risch has not named a deadline for the addition of bitcoin and avoided saying whether other cryptocurrencies would be considered eligible in Liechtenstein.

El Salvador and the Central African Republic are the only countries that have adopted bitcoin as a legal tender so far, in September 2021 and April 2022, respectively.

Australia, Germany, Finland, Japan, Italy, Sweden, the US, the UK, and Ukraine have legalized the use of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, though limited their economic employment compared to fiat currencies.