El Salvador plan to make BTC legal tender

[laohe628]

I must say i like El Salvador, this country creates a history, making BTC as the country's legal tender, i can't help but wonder if more countries will follow suit, even if still small country, i believe a single spark can start a prairie fire.

[iv4n]

I must say i like El Salvador, this country creates a history, making BTC as the country's legal tender, i can't help but wonder if more countries will follow suit, even if still small country, i believe a single spark can start a prairie fire.

Yea, I like El Salvador too... but from a big distance! I wouldn't go there even if you pay me for that!

If we can call it a country, it's small, run by gangs... MS 13! The documentaries about them that I watched are crazy, literally! Who will follow this god-forsaken place?

I mean it's OK what they are trying to do... but the reality is hard for them! And I don't think that Bitcoin can help them, they need to change many other things first! Maybe this can be seen as the first step towards some bigger changes... maybe! Time will tell, but I am not so sure about that!

[Karartma1]

I must say i like El Salvador, this country creates a history, making BTC as the country's legal tender, i can't help but wonder if more countries will follow suit, even if still small country, i believe a single spark can start a prairie fire.

Yea, I like El Salvador too... but from a big distance! I wouldn't go there even if you pay me for that!

If we can call it a country, it's small, run by gangs... MS 13! The documentaries about them that I watched are crazy, literally! Who will follow this god-forsaken place?

I mean it's OK what they are trying to do... but the reality is hard for them! And I don't think that Bitcoin can help them, they need to change many other things first! Maybe this can be seen as the first step towards some bigger changes... maybe! Time will tell, but I am not so sure about that!

Everything must start from somewhere? What if this is the opportunity for Salvadorians to improve their life and start getting rid of all those 3rd country problems?
I don't like when people tend to focus always on the bad sides while don't recognizing the true good value that such a move would bring to the country.

[peter0425]

A credible outlet and others have given credit to this news. El Salvador is one of the Central America countries that could be considered a failed state. Little rule of law, an immense number of gangs with thousands of members... The president is probably not the best economist out there, but he may be right in choosing bitcoin as legal tender and even right on the reasons to choose it. After all, having a currency only works if you can print a lot of it and preserves its value and nowadays those are only the USD, EUR, RNM and perhaps the sterling pound to a point.

https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-57373058

The current legal tender, USD, is managed by the FED and ultimately by the US government and perhaps is justified to change that to a decentralised network that has less political motivations under certain perspective.

I believe that that congress had a majority votes for this so this was not a plan but already a reality.

I must say i like El Salvador, this country creates a history, making BTC as the country's legal tender, i can't help but wonder if more countries will follow suit, even if still small country, i believe a single spark can start a prairie fire.

you just love the country because of being pioneer in accepting Bitcoin?

[iv4n]

...

...

Everything must start from somewhere? What if this is the opportunity for Salvadorians to improve their life and start getting rid of all those 3rd country problems?
I don't like when people tend to focus always on the bad sides while don't recognizing the true good value that such a move would bring to the country.

If you just add a new currency/asset/mean of exchange (call crypto as you like) what did you do?! They didn't replace the old system with something better and improved, they just added one more payment option! Which is a good thing, for rich people, or for the people who have a lot of coins... but what this means for ordinary people in El Salvador who don't have money or coins?

I agree that everything must start from somewhere and that somewhere should be from the root of the problems! And I simply don't see this like that... call me pessimistic, but I live in a third-world country, and I know what kind of problems we have! These problems can't be solved just by adding new payment options! When I see some country making a decision to replace the old system and go full crypto, everything on-chain and transparent, I will see that as a good start that can make big changes! Like this, it's just putting a patch on a gun wound!

[oHnK]

I must say i like El Salvador, this country creates a history, making BTC as the country's legal tender, i can't help but wonder if more countries will follow suit, even if still small country, i believe a single spark can start a prairie fire.

Yea, I like El Salvador too... but from a big distance! I wouldn't go there even if you pay me for that!

If we can call it a country, it's small, run by gangs... MS 13! The documentaries about them that I watched are crazy, literally! Who will follow this god-forsaken place?

I mean it's OK what they are trying to do... but the reality is hard for them! And I don't think that Bitcoin can help them, they need to change many other things first! Maybe this can be seen as the first step towards some bigger changes... maybe! Time will tell, but I am not so sure about that!

Everything must start from somewhere? What if this is the opportunity for Salvadorians to improve their life and start getting rid of all those 3rd country problems?
I don't like when people tend to focus always on the bad sides while don't recognizing the true good value that such a move would bring to the country.

Yup, there is a good side for the society. When they can learn about BTC, and earn some BTC not only for transaction but also as an investment. Look at the trend history of BTC, the government decision will make its society become richer than before. Based on many article that in this country, 70% society dont have bank account. It means that the society is poor and this is a great ocasion for them.

[SquallLeonhart]

If you just add a new currency/asset/mean of exchange (call crypto as you like) what did you do?! They didn't replace the old system with something better and improved, they just added one more payment option! Which is a good thing, for rich people, or for the people who have a lot of coins... but what this means for ordinary people in El Salvador who don't have money or coins?

I agree that everything must start from somewhere and that somewhere should be from the root of the problems! And I simply don't see this like that... call me pessimistic, but I live in a third-world country, and I know what kind of problems we have! These problems can't be solved just by adding new payment options! When I see some country making a decision to replace the old system and go full crypto, everything on-chain and transparent, I will see that as a good start that can make big changes! Like this, it's just putting a patch on a gun wound!

For people of El Salvador that means that they could work for other nations, they could work online and they would be very capable of changing that income into fiat and live there as well, or just use crypto if they want to. They could work for an american company, get paid very very little compared to an american worker, but get paid a ton for someone in el salvador then they could use that income and live a very good life.

If enough people can do that it would mean that the nation would have more and more dollars and they would have a better economy as well. In the end what makes a nation stronger is how much money they can get from other nations, this could be done by selling some product to other nations, usa sells a ton of products and services, germany has all those cars, basically every strong nation does that, if Salvador can do that with its people, they could get a strong economy as well.

[Karartma1]

...

...

Everything must start from somewhere? What if this is the opportunity for Salvadorians to improve their life and start getting rid of all those 3rd country problems?
I don't like when people tend to focus always on the bad sides while don't recognizing the true good value that such a move would bring to the country.

If you just add a new currency/asset/mean of exchange (call crypto as you like) what did you do?! They didn't replace the old system with something better and improved, they just added one more payment option! Which is a good thing, for rich people, or for the people who have a lot of coins... but what this means for ordinary people in El Salvador who don't have money or coins?

I agree that everything must start from somewhere and that somewhere should be from the root of the problems! And I simply don't see this like that... call me pessimistic, but I live in a third-world country, and I know what kind of problems we have! These problems can't be solved just by adding new payment options! When I see some country making a decision to replace the old system and go full crypto, everything on-chain and transparent, I will see that as a good start that can make big changes! Like this, it's just putting a patch on a gun wound!

Of course problems won't go away simply by adding Bitcoin as a new payment option. Thing is though that it's not simply like adding a new payment option this is making bitcoin legal tender which is much more.
This is not only for rich people, with LN they are trying to use it where its needed the most.
Without speculating on what it'll be let's just wait and see how this will play out.

[Shasha80]

~

For people of El Salvador that means that they could work for other nations, they could work online and they would be very capable of changing that income into fiat and live there as well, or just use crypto if they want to. They could work for an american company, get paid very very little compared to an american worker, but get paid a ton for someone in el salvador then they could use that income and live a very good life.

If enough people can do that it would mean that the nation would have more and more dollars and they would have a better economy as well. In the end what makes a nation stronger is how much money they can get from other nations, this could be done by selling some product to other nations, usa sells a ton of products and services, germany has all those cars, basically every strong nation does that, if Salvador can do that with its people, they could get a strong economy as well.

I agree with you, El Salvador accepts Bitcoin not replacing the old system. But with the government accepting Bitcoin, it can be a bridge
for El Salvadorans to get jobs and income from abroad without having to leave their country. This will of course have a positive impact
on the El Salvador economy, so accepting Bitcoin is not a substitute for fiat. But apart from being used for alternative payments,
Bitcoin also makes a big impact, for the country of El Salvador by opening up opportunities for the residents of El Salvador to earn a source of
income from Bitcoin. Things like this should be exemplified by other countries, especially third world countries whose residents need a source of income.

[Silberman]

Yesterday the bitcoin law was passed at El Salvador making it the first country to proclaim bitcoin as a legal tender, this is a step on the right direction and it is a sign of things to come, it is going to be interesting what happens during the next years, if El Salvador remains as the only country to declare bitcoin as a legal tender then there is a chance that a great deal of businesses related to cryptocurrencies decide to move to El Salvador bringing a lot of money to their economy.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/09/el-salvador-proposes-law-to-make-bitcoin-legal-tender.html

Let's see where this leads, although to be honest, it all looks a bit like pure populism. Although, the fact that the country is small and the economy, respectively, also gives some chances for a positive outcome of the experiment. Let's hope that the government of the country has provided for all the negative consequences of its decision and the positive consequences will outweigh the negative consequences. In any case, this is positive news and from the theoretical reasoning in the style of, and what would be, we will be able to see a concrete example of the embedding of bitcoin in the economy.

As you say we will have to wait and see, however at El Salvador the US dollar is also legal tender so it is not like this is the first time it happened there, to me this seems like an attempt to bring money to the economy and if they keep passing laws like that which are very friendly to bitcoin then we could see a huge movement of businesses related to bitcoin bringing a lot of investment to this small country while at the same time other countries try to raise the taxes to the bitcoin profits you have made.

[arallmuus]

to me this seems like an attempt to bring money to the economy

In fact , it is. El Salvador is classified as lower middle income country and the smallest country in Central America so in order to survive, they need to do everything that they could do. Crypto and bitcoin in particular is kinda the spotlight right now so they made that decision, if somehow The Chinese Yuan is the main spotlight for the past few months then they would have done the same thing as well

then we could see a huge movement of businesses related to bitcoin bringing a lot of investment to this small country while at the same time other countries try to raise the taxes to the bitcoin profits you have made.

Its more of a long term effect rather than a short one probably atleast 10 years to see the effect of this decision. If it turns out to be a great decision then we can expect alot more low income countries to follow their steps

[sana54210]

As you say we will have to wait and see, however at El Salvador the US dollar is also legal tender so it is not like this is the first time it happened there, to me this seems like an attempt to bring money to the economy and if they keep passing laws like that which are very friendly to bitcoin then we could see a huge movement of businesses related to bitcoin bringing a lot of investment to this small country while at the same time other countries try to raise the taxes to the bitcoin profits you have made.

When the us dollar is a legal tender that is not going to be THAT much useful because it is still requiring people to send each other money and that is rarely that easy, whereas in bitcoin world we have so many coins, you could literally send 30 cents to someone in the altcoin world, think about how rare that is, making money in crypto world is easy for people who live in cheap nations like us, we just have to work for it and we could make some money.

I need about 500 dollars to survive each month, sometimes I make that in crypto, sometimes I do not and have a bit of a hard month depending on how much lesser, but it is always around those levels, I do not make 100-200 dollars per month, and this is not even trading, it is literally working hard and in crypto people are willing to pay you over their own nationality people because why would you pay an american 1000 dollars for someone who can do it for 100 dollars, not like developer in usa is much better than developer here, there is really no difference and it is much cheaper.

[JayJuanGee]

~

For people of El Salvador that means that they could work for other nations, they could work online and they would be very capable of changing that income into fiat and live there as well, or just use crypto if they want to. They could work for an american company, get paid very very little compared to an american worker, but get paid a ton for someone in el salvador then they could use that income and live a very good life.

If enough people can do that it would mean that the nation would have more and more dollars and they would have a better economy as well. In the end what makes a nation stronger is how much money they can get from other nations, this could be done by selling some product to other nations, usa sells a ton of products and services, germany has all those cars, basically every strong nation does that, if Salvador can do that with its people, they could get a strong economy as well.

I agree with you, El Salvador accepts Bitcoin not replacing the old system. But with the government accepting Bitcoin, it can be a bridge
for El Salvadorans to get jobs and income from abroad without having to leave their country. This will of course have a positive impact
on the El Salvador economy, so accepting Bitcoin is not a substitute for fiat. But apart from being used for alternative payments,
Bitcoin also makes a big impact, for the country of El Salvador by opening up opportunities for the residents of El Salvador to earn a source of
income from Bitcoin. Things like this should be exemplified by other countries, especially third world countries whose residents need a source of income.

Seems to me, @Shasha80, that your framing of the El Salvador situation as opening up foreign connection opportunities (which surely is not untrue), under-appreciates the elephant in the room, which is that the mere creation of BTC transactional options within El Salvador is likely creating value in and of itself, in spite of whether money comes in from the outside, and sure, no matter what, the increasing of BTC adoption and use cases within a country, is not going to be able to isolate impacts as ONLY domestic - because even if El Salvador decides to facilitate BTC mining (governmental and/or private sector), BTC mining does not happen in a domestic vacuum - even if there may well be attempts to try to channel internalized El Salvador BTC mining in a way that builds and grows the local (ES) BTC infrastructure - but surely such ES BTC mining development would have a back and forth impact and probably result in a growing economic pie rather than merely moving one piece of pie from China (for example) over to ES.

[ziennakarishma21]

This is great news for the crypto market as it constantly encounters FUDs from China, El Salvador making BTC a means of payment in their country is quite interesting and not only there are El Salvador but also many other countries that will accept BTC.

[boumalo]

El Salvador plan to make BTC legal tender is a good news, such as when a traded company invest some of its balance sheet in BTC but let's remember it is an extremely small % of public Institutions, Governments and Wall Street firms that have a positive view on BTC.

If you are optimistic, you can say the potential is still enormnous.

[Sithara007]

should there be an example of success for a country that has adopted BTC? Isn't there already a Venezuelan country that several years ago experienced severe inflation that made the country's economy crumble? but it is the people themselves who are trying to find a solution by switching to cryptocurrency digital currency. in fact if there is research on it then there will be bright hope for BTC in the future.

Venezuela is still sticking with its shitty national currency (Bolivar), right? Bitcoin has no official status in Venezuela, despite being widely used for day to day activities. The government still sustains itself by printing Bolivar in huge quantities. First of all, they need some Forex reserve in their hand, to make some other currency as the legal tender. And right now the treasury and the forex reserves are empty. From what I have heard, the government tolerates the usage of cryptocurrency, and as far as I am concerned, that is good enough.

[AndySt]

should there be an example of success for a country that has adopted BTC? Isn't there already a Venezuelan country that several years ago experienced severe inflation that made the country's economy crumble? but it is the people themselves who are trying to find a solution by switching to cryptocurrency digital currency. in fact if there is research on it then there will be bright hope for BTC in the future.

Venezuela is still sticking with its shitty national currency (Bolivar), right? Bitcoin has no official status in Venezuela, despite being widely used for day to day activities. The government still sustains itself by printing Bolivar in huge quantities. First of all, they need some Forex reserve in their hand, to make some other currency as the legal tender. And right now the treasury and the forex reserves are empty. From what I have heard, the government tolerates the usage of cryptocurrency, and as far as I am concerned, that is good enough.

Venezuela is a bit of a separate story, when political chaos, fueled in every possible way from the outside, is accompanied by economic chaos plus a difficult situation with oil revenues. When the central government is either afraid or unable to take control of the state's economic policy. In principle, with such a weak central government, it is difficult to talk about any economic policy and it is possible to declare any currency official without any real consequences. Therefore, I wish El Salvador every success in promoting bitcoin, but I do not think that this is a case that can be used as a successful example for everyone in the future.

[suzanne5223]

I am really happy about El Salvador to move in making Bitcoin a legal tender and with their positive towards Bitcoin, I don't think it will be nice for anyone to consider their President not to be the best economist out there. However, this is wonderful by El Salvador cause more good things are coming their way.

[arallmuus]

If you are optimistic, you can say the potential is still enormnous.

Its more like a long term domino effect but alot of potential for the country. If somehow there is a drastic change in their Economy and GDP after making bitcoin as their legal tender in around 10 years or so, then some other countries might follow their steps. Some other low income countries are most likely going to monitor this before making the same decision

I am really happy about El Salvador to move in making Bitcoin a legal tender and with their positive towards Bitcoin, I don't think it will be nice for anyone to consider their President not to be the best economist out there.

It was a bold move and on top of that, they made the decision while bitcoin is still one of most googled subject in 2021 so El Salvador got the full coverage about this news from all over the world. Genius indeed

[Kasabus]

I am really happy about El Salvador to move in making Bitcoin a legal tender and with their positive towards Bitcoin, I don't think it will  be nice fothir anyone to consider their President not to be the best economist out there. However, this is wonderful by  El Salvador cause more good things are coming their way.

Now that El Salvador is on its way to bitcoin legalization, its economy will more likely to progress too. However, the President of this state got an issue that he's owning a large amount of bitcoin and he's only doing this to create bitcoin hype. I think whether its true or not, he's free to do things on his own as what crypto is all about, freedom. Hope this proposal will be approve soon because if this comes out positively, bitcoin would definitely be in a hype again.