El Salvador’s Pro-Bitcoin President Begs for Patience as the Cryptocurrency Plummets
El Salvador’s President, Nayib Bukele, has urged citizens to be patient as the value of Bitcoin, which the country has backed with legislation, plummets. The Central American nation made headlines in June when it became the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender.
At the time, Bukele said that using Bitcoin would make El Salvador
more attractive to investors and tourists from all over the globe.
Bukele, El Salvador President
However, since then, the cryptocurrency has lost around 57% of its value, falling from a high of nearly $41,000 in early January to below $18,000 last week.
Despite this, Bukele remains optimistic about Bitcoin’s future and has urged his citizens not to panic.
El Salvador is not the only country that turned to Bitcoin. Others, such as China and Russia, have also invested in cryptocurrency. However, El Salvador appears to be the first nation to officially adopt it as legal tender.
The move was a way for El Salvador to circumvent U.S. sanctions, which had been imposed on the country due to its alleged involvement in human rights abuses and money laundering. By using Bitcoin, El Salvador was able to circumvent these sanctions and continue to conduct business with other countries without restriction.
The adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender had a positive impact on the price of Bitcoin. This was because demand for bitcoin increased as more people and businesses began to use it.
El Salvador’s investment in bitcoin appears to be paying off, at least in the short term. The value of Bitcoin has surged in recent months, and the country’s holdings are now worth significantly more than when they were first purchased. While it remains to be seen whether this investment will continue to be successful in the long term, it has certainly been a lucrative endeavor so far.
In an interview with a local television station on Wednesday, Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya tried to put a positive spin on the issue, claiming that because El Salvador hasn’t sold any of its Bitcoins, it hasn’t incurred any losses.
This doesn’t even represent 0.5 percent of our budget
Zelaya added, implying that the Bitcoin slump isn’t a big deal for El Salvador.
Barry Pene is a stern blockchain research/copywriter. Barry has been trading cryptos since 2017 and has been invested in issues that would put the blockchain industry on the right pedestal. Barry's research expertise cuts across blockchain as a disruptive technology, DeFis, NFTs, Web3, and reduction of energy consumption levels of cryptocurrency mining.
