El Salvador celebrated the 3rd anniversary of Bitcoin (BTC) being recognized as legal tender yesterday. But what is the outcome of President Nayib Bukele’s famous law?
El Salvador and the Bitcoin Case
El Salvador became the first country in the world to recognize bitcoin as a legal tender on September 7, 2021. President Nayib Bukele was behind the decision.
Alex Momot, founder and CEO of cryptocurrency trading platform Peanut Trade, told Cointelegraph:
El Salvador’s bitcoin experiment could be considered a success. The country acted as a pioneer, taking risks and trying something radically new. While it’s too early to tell whether all aspects of the reform were successful, it’s clear that El Salvador has reaped some benefits.
El Salvador with profit
The cyclical purchase of bitcoins was a good decision. The government bought one bitcoin per day. According to the Nayib Bukele Portfolio Tracker website, the country is “ahead” of this investment by $31 million. El Salvador bought bitcoins at an average price of $43,877 per unit. Today, 1 BTC is worth about $54,300.
According to the Treasury website, it now holds a total of 5,865 bitcoins worth more than $318 million.
However, Bukele’s decision was met with widespread criticism. He was attacked for it by – obviously – the opposition, but also by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which claimed that pro-Bitcoin policies could lead to an economic collapse. As it turns out, the president was right.
Adoption is much worse in the country. It turns out that Salvadorans are not at all keen on paying with bitcoins (in fact, they don’t do it at all). To that end, the government has created its own BTC wallet and a network of bitcoin ATMs.
Bukele himself is a very controversial politician. Running for the second time in the presidential elections, he severely bent the constitution (or, to put it bluntly: broke it). In addition, his administration made it difficult for the opposition to conduct the election campaign.
Despite the above, Bukele enjoys real support in the country. Probably because he has cracked down on local gangs and reduced crime.
