Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, has called out global financial institutions, Western powers, and the media outlets they control for criticism received after Bitcoin adoption. El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as the country’s legal tender last year. According to Nayib Bukele,
El Salvador Making Bitcoin a Legal Tender
Bitcoin becoming a legal tender in September 2021 alongside the dollar in El Salvador was huge. The country occupies a place in history as the first sovereign nation to officially adopt Bitcoin as a currency.
The nation also created Chivo, a Bitcoin digital wallet to promote Bitcoin usage. The wallet was built around the same time that El Salvador legalized Bitcoin. The government even provided $30 in free credit to encourage the app’s usage.
Since then, El Salvador has received endless criticism from the mainstream media and international financial institutions. The IMF told the country to re-evaluate the policy by removing Bitcoin’s legal tender status.
The move also received a reaction from the United US. Several senators introduced the Accountability for Cryptocurrency in El Salvador (ACES) Act. The ACES Act would ask a state department to assess the move by El Salvador. This would go a long way in removing potential risks to the US financial system.
Mainstream media and international bodies further state that Bitcoin’s adoption by El Salvador is a failed experiment. It is their stand that embracing Bitcoin leads to financial instability and bankruptcy of the country. They lash out, attempting to cite El Salvador as an irresponsible actor. They always instigate a reverse course for the country.
Why All the Hate Towards the Adoption of Bitcoin by El Salvador?
It is always challenging to be the first in anything, and the adoption of Bitcoin by El Salvador proves no different. Maybe the hate comes from the country, creating a new path toward creating money outside such organizations’ power and control.
Such a move will make the country continue to come under the international community’s scrutiny. It will be a poster child of what happens to a sovereign nation when they adopt digital sound money.
Many issues have come to play, even with the onslaught of the current market. However, El Salvador’s success has been great, recalling that the nation was only known for gang violence and poverty levels.
Nayib Bukele disregards the false perception in an article,
“The most vocal detractors are the world’s power elites and the people who work for or benefit from them,” Bukele states.
“Progressives be Hating as Bukele Transforms El Salvador”
The crypto space is faced with many uncertainties. During El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin, its price was close to $47,000. A year later, BTC was trading at around $19,000, with the country having nearly 2,381 Bitcoins. The decrease in price puts the country at significant financial risk.
But what if the price goes back to its highest normal? Even if the move looks like a failure, it may change the whole crypto perspective if it succeeds. According to one crypto enthusiast,
“Progressives be hating on Bukele; meanwhile, he is transforming El Salvador to green energy Bitcoin safe haven.”
This is what many institutions are against.
