El Salvador President blasts Bitcoin (BTC) law criticism

All eyes of the cryptocurrency community are currently on El Salvador that is experiencing a historic moment in the cryptocurrency world.

What is happening?

Having approved Bitcoin as a legal tender on 9^th June, El Salvador, the small Central American Nation, is all set to bring Bitcoin Law into effect from 7^th September. The Salvadoran Congress’ bold decision faced backlash from a range of international organisations including the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank.

Opinions divided

An economist at John Hopkins University, Steve Hanke has disapproved of the “Crackpot Bitcoin Law” criticising El Salvador President Nayib Bukele for his Bitcoin implementation plan. He claims that the President “is playing with fire” that might burn El Salvador.

The @StateDept sanctioned 14 El Salvadoran govt officials, @WorldBank & @IMF issued warnings, & ELSL's bonds tanked. But Pres. @nayibbukele has ignored these red flags & marches on with his crackpot #BTC Law. Bukele is playing with fire. ELSL will be burnt.https://t.co/cqWHLvFyKW

— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) August 20, 2021

Nayib Bukele promptly responded to Hanke’s tweet calling him a “boomer”.

Who is this boomer? https://t.co/jeoJZivYAY

— Nayib Bukele 🇸🇻 (@nayibbukele) August 20, 2021

Despite criticism and the opposition party’s lawsuit aiming at halting the Bitcoin Law implementation, Nayib Bukele believes in his brainchild, insisting that only BTC will solve El Salvador’s banking crisis with over 70% of the unbanked population.

The President has also launched a Bitcoin airdrop campaign to bring cryptocurrency issues into the public eye. During the campaign, every adult resident is supposed to receive $30 worth of BTC. The local Central Bank has recently released a regulatory framework for the banks dealing with BTC and cryptocurrency transactions.

El Salvador, being the first country in the world that has formally adopted BTC as a legal tender, is currently divided into 2 camps. The President of the country subscribes to the belief that the new BTC Law would solve the current banking crisis whilst some experts claim that it is a road to the currency chaos and economic collapse. Only time will tell whether El Salvador can become a significant monetary centre in the world.

Recevez un condensé de l’actualité dans le monde des cryptomonnaies en vous abonnant à notre nouveau service de newsletter quotidienne et hebdomadaire pour ne rien manquer de l’essentiel Cointribune !