Nothing will ‘stop’ Bitcoin in El Salvador, says President after IMF, World Bank criticism. President Bukele says Bitcoin as legal tender will be happening in El Salvador.
It's been probably two weeks since the president of El Salvador, a small Central American country has passed the bill to make Bitcoin legal tender in their country. IMF sounds ‘legal, economic’ alarms over El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption, but as authorities have proven us over time, they never come with any logical reason why Bitcoin won't work.
President Bukele however is looking like not giving a shit over the IMF and World Bank's threats, them being actually the institutions that have proven for decades not actually working for people(individuals like you and I), but rather against them.
“I don’t see anything stopping it. Everything about the humans can be stopped. But I just don’t see how. It’s law, the government is working 24/7 in going to effect in 80 days. While the government did approach us for assistance on bitcoin, this is not something the World Bank can support given the environmental and transparency shortcomings. Our Congress has 84 seats, you only need 43 to change monetary policy, which is half plus one. That’s the majority, right? When we have supermajority here, you need two-thirds, which would be 56 out of 84. We got 63 votes."
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That's about it with the narrative of passing the bill of making Bitcoin legal tender in El Salvador and the hiccups the IMF is throwing at them.
President Nayib Bukele is pushing forward and El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law Effective September While E-Wallets to Get $30 Worth of Crypto. That translating to government using the Chivo e-wallet, preloaded with $30 of bitcoin for everyone who downloads it. With this one El Salvadorians will get the taste of a mass national airdrop worth $30. We crypto guys love airdrops, right...
In the following extract from the Coindesk report on this topic is something I am totally against, coming from the president of El Salvador.
The $30 in bitcoin will be sent to a user's wallet once they verify their identity via the app's face recognition software, according to a video of Bukele presenting the feature on Friday.
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KYC and face recognition compiled with not owning the keys is something I don't like and worried about when talking crypto. This type of currency is created to offer privacy for its users and not another tool of mass control. I see the point of their strategy, that being potential fraud, but still don't like it. The positive as of late for El Salvadorians, as if there was only negative about the latest news regarding Bitcoin in their country :) is that...
Athena Bitcoin, operator of bitcoin (BTC, +3.32%) automated teller machines (ATMs) throughout the Americas, is poised to establish 1,500 new cash-to-crypto machines in El Salvador. Meaning that on and off ramps for Bitcoin are created in El Salvador as we speak. This country is 3x smaller than mine and we don't have a tenth of the number of ATM they will have.
The aftermath with El Salvador and Bitcoin is a bit mixed one. On one hand we see another break through in mass adopting Bitcoin/cryptocurrency as a currency in some small country in this world, "benefitting from adversity from IMF and world bank which is a good thing imo, and on the other the president's way of airdropping Bitcoin to citizens is a bit totalitarian. It's free internet money though and not an entirely threatening decision.
Meanwhile Bitcoin seems to be holding $34,000 level and probably forming a bottom there. The bull market is not over, it looks more and more alike with the 2013 one and we haven't had an euphoria phase yet. Enjoy it, make the most out of your online spent time and see you to the next one.
Thanks for attention,
Adrian