El Salvador retirees protest against Bitcoin as legal tender

[kotajikikox]

I'm sure this is another political motivated movement and the opposition is on the back of it, imagine that the government supports the most controversial but most favorable currency in the world, but they are still protesting and calling this as scam ?
These retiree know nothing about the situation and they are just being lured to make those comment to back up oppositions stand and make the administration looks stupid.

[1714961834]

1714961834

[tyz]

Another BS, money laundering is much easier to get caught if they use bitcoin because there's a public ledger that helps you trace the suspicious transactions. It's normal that the prices are volatile, that's how it is plus why do they make a big deal out of bitcoin, as if it's the only thing that matters in El Salvador.

It's kind of funny that this narrative can still be maintained so successfully. After all, it has been shown in recent years that Bitcoin is rather disadvantageous for money laundering. Cash is much better for that. Even a former senior FBI official said in an interview that Bitcoin is rather a blessing for law enforcement agencies in this matter.

Here is also an interesting article about it:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/haileylennon/2021/01/19/the-false-narrative-of-bitcoins-role-in-illicit-activity/

[LUCKMCFLY]

the people that are protesting against bitcoin and they still believe that it is used for money laundering that they should have an audit on their income and belonging, because the only people who would go against it have some kind of profit of some transactions going unnoticed, because will transaction being on the blockchain people can see what money goes to whom and that makes any big transaction to be seen and inspected,

I am sure that those who protest for this reason have no idea that the main money laundering has occurred with fiat money, I think that people's ignorance has no cavity here, mainly this is because a lot of financial education is needed.

People mainly do not trust the volatility of BTC, Besides that there is a great campaign against BTC, both in the news and in the opposition of the government, all this helps that people do not understand the social problem very well, which, all it gets stuck for me for that reason.
When a person does not understand a technology, it is normal for them to lean towards the bad, which is shown by the news, actually when watching CNN in Spanish they do not recommend investing in BTC in their programs due to high volatility.

[Despairo]

Dear stompix
I don't know who you are, but you made a good point of the other perspective to view Bitcoin as freedom and those retirees against Bitcoin. Actually I feel sorry for those pensioners due to health issue and for the disabilities, they're a hero and really motivating to all people. But, El Salvador accept it as second legal tender and didn't force their citizen to use it, so they feel free to choose. The article isn't wrong, but I'm wrong to give a opinion about this protest.

As for the ten years speculation of Bitcoin, I no have any idea to speculate it because we don't know how high the demand with Bitcoin in the future.

Dear The Pharmacist

First, sorry for being blindly pro-bitcoin because I really love Bitcoin and hate Banks or Fiat even I still use it.
Yeah the little money aspect is a main problem of their citizen protest, they need to use their money to buy food for daily life and don't have more money to buy Bitcoin. Scalability is also the problem because they forced to buy more than they want, so it will make the fees more cheaper per average. I admit I was wrong and will learn to view on other perspective as well.

Dear other users thank you for your opinions.

[el kaka22]

I would say it's a result of propaganda! Old people believe that Bitcoin is used for illegal activities, and now probably these old people think that allowing Bitcoin to be a legal tender will draw people from criminal circles! So now these old people are just protesting against new regulations because they don't see any benefits for them directly! They don't understand crypto, they want something in their wallets! And can we blame them?! It's something new that they don't understand, maybe they feel like left behind again, and they are protesting... as the last chance to change something for them!

If the point of the protests are "this is criminal stuff and we do not want it" then I would understand however they made it very clear that they are also very interested in the fact that bitcoin is volatile, if the point is criminal activity then the point of being volatile should be not a problem at all, why would you care if the money criminals use is volatile at all?

They would not say that if it was all about criminal activities. Don't get me wrong I am not saying that they are not caring about that part, all I am saying that if they are saying bad things about the volatility of bitcoin price then it means they must be caring about something more than that and they care about their own money moving up and down as well.

This is why I am asking if they care about volatility, why not just ignore it completely? It is an option and not a forced thing, so volatility shouldn't be cause for protests. Weird situation in and out.

[Sithara007]

I am sure that those who protest for this reason have no idea that the main money laundering has occurred with fiat money, I think that people's ignorance has no cavity here, mainly this is because a lot of financial education is needed.

People mainly do not trust the volatility of BTC, Besides that there is a great campaign against BTC, both in the news and in the opposition of the government, all this helps that people do not understand the social problem very well, which, all it gets stuck for me for that reason.
When a person does not understand a technology, it is normal for them to lean towards the bad, which is shown by the news, actually when watching CNN in Spanish they do not recommend investing in BTC in their programs due to high volatility.

Volatility is not essentially a bad thing. When you are using Bitcoin to make payments or for remittance, if you are using a payment processor then the coins will be immediately converted to fiat currency. Neither the seller, nor the buyer need to worry about the volatility here. And mainstream media has never presented a honest picture of Bitcoin in front of the ordinary people. They would like us to believe that it is the currency of drug dealers and pedophiles, even when they don't have any proof to back it up.

[Wind_FURY]

It doesn’t mean that if what the state/government is forcing you to use is Bitcoin, it’s an automatic “OK” decision. The point was no state should force Bitcoin on ANYONE, but let the people use it for its merits.

Yes but my point was that no state should force Fiat on anyone either, that's what they do and I don't see many people complaining about it. I don't see people using the Fiat for its "merits" either, apart from the fact that this is what is accepted as payment.

Then do you agree with me when I said that El Salvador’s Bitcoin Legal Tender Law should NOT force users to accept Bitcoin? Because you posted something that questioned why those people were protesting.

Did I say “massive” protests? I said it was growing. Pictures shown were from different parts of El Salvador.

No, you didn't.

Besides, it seems to me that protests will be closely linked to the price. If it goes up a lot, no one will protest, as soon as there is a drop, there will probably be protests again. It shouldn't be like that, and Bitcoin should be valued for its intrinsic properties but it seems to me that's what's going to happen.

Then there will be protests every week? Hahaha.

[Wayan_Pedjeng]

Someone needs to do an investigation into these protests. Who is provoking the people in El Salvador? There is a lot of FUD and fake news being circulated and it seems to be pretty organized. No one is forcing ordinary people to use BTC. It is their choice whether they want to use cryptocurrency or not. Given this, I don't see any point in protesting against the move. The rollout hasn't yet begun, as the Bitcoin law is effective only from 7th September. And according to rumors, Malta and Panama are next in line.

[Taskford]

Someone needs to do an investigation into these protests. Who is provoking the people in El Salvador? There is a lot of FUD and fake news being circulated and it seems to be pretty organized. No one is forcing ordinary people to use BTC. It is their choice whether they want to use cryptocurrency or not. Given this, I don't see any point in protesting against the move. The rollout hasn't yet begun, as the Bitcoin law is effective only from 7th September. And according to rumors, Malta and Panama are next in line.

We don't know what's the real situation happening as we are not living on that country but if their citizen is not really force to use bitcoin then provably this is just a propaganda, maybe this is made by their political enemy so that they can create fud also have something to blame with current administration. For sure we will see like this in future but what good thing is they are starting to use bitcoin and its better to ignore the current news since it will not give any good contribution to bitcoins.

[DrBeer]

I am sure that those who protest for this reason have no idea that the main money laundering has occurred with fiat money, I think that people's ignorance has no cavity here, mainly this is because a lot of financial education is needed.

People mainly do not trust the volatility of BTC, Besides that there is a great campaign against BTC, both in the news and in the opposition of the government, all this helps that people do not understand the social problem very well, which, all it gets stuck for me for that reason.
When a person does not understand a technology, it is normal for them to lean towards the bad, which is shown by the news, actually when watching CNN in Spanish they do not recommend investing in BTC in their programs due to high volatility.

Volatility is not essentially a bad thing. When you are using Bitcoin to make payments or for remittance, if you are using a payment processor then the coins will be immediately converted to fiat currency. Neither the seller, nor the buyer need to worry about the volatility here. And mainstream media has never presented a honest picture of Bitcoin in front of the ordinary people. They would like us to believe that it is the currency of drug dealers and pedophiles, even when they don't have any proof to back it up.

The question arises, how then will all this work?
First, question number
1: bitcoin. How will citizens receive it - after receiving a salary, will they be exchanged for bitcoin?
2. And do they apply - make a payment in bitcoin, which automatically turns into fiat?
If both answers are yes, then the question is: why such a complicated process? If we have fiat at the entrance and fiat at the exit? And on top of that, there is a time between them, during which the stored bitcoin with a high probability will lose its value, which will lead to the loss of such a holder in the wallet!

I just can't understand the meaning or logic of accepting cryptocurrency as a means of payment in order to get out of a difficult economic situation? This is not an option, this is playing to the public and deceiving people! If you are not right - please, bring your thought in a well-reasoned way?

[Leviathan.007]

The people who protest and stay against adoption in their country are totally normal. Whenever any adoption happens there will be some people standing against the adoption and El Salvador is one example. Also, there are many organizations that take benefit from the old corrupted and traditional system and bitcoin will not allow them to abuse the economic system and get an advantage so they will make people protest and make a negative atmosphere there. In my own idea, the protest is completely normal and nothing surprising.
 

[icopress]

They are NOT “protesting against Bitcoin”, they’re protesting against the laws that FORCE them to accept Bitcoin. I already said it in another thread that accepting Bitcoin legal tender is OK, but forcing the people to accept it without giving them the right to say “NO” will be a problem. El Salvador should let Bitcoin be used in its own merit.

Man, be realistic ... after all it is absolutely not important what these people are protesting against, this is just a formality. Those who have hired these people have a single goal - to create a negative media background around Bitcoin. At least being a resident of the same corrupt country as El Salvador, I have something to compare with ... when every four years during elections, officials put pressure on people working in the budgetary sectors of the economy, when all the protests are paid from the state funds. Therefore, for me this news is fiction (knowing that such a protest can only cost a few thousand dollars).

[LUCKMCFLY]

I am sure that those who protest for this reason have no idea that the main money laundering has occurred with fiat money, I think that people's ignorance has no cavity here, mainly this is because a lot of financial education is needed.

People mainly do not trust the volatility of BTC, Besides that there is a great campaign against BTC, both in the news and in the opposition of the government, all this helps that people do not understand the social problem very well, which, all it gets stuck for me for that reason.
When a person does not understand a technology, it is normal for them to lean towards the bad, which is shown by the news, actually when watching CNN in Spanish they do not recommend investing in BTC in their programs due to high volatility.

Volatility is not essentially a bad thing. When you are using Bitcoin to make payments or for remittance, if you are using a payment processor then the coins will be immediately converted to fiat currency. Neither the seller, nor the buyer need to worry about the volatility here. And mainstream media has never presented a honest picture of Bitcoin in front of the ordinary people. They would like us to believe that it is the currency of drug dealers and pedophiles, even when they don't have any proof to back it up.

The question arises, how then will all this work?
First, question number
1: bitcoin. How will citizens receive it - after receiving a salary, will they be exchanged for bitcoin?
2. And do they apply - make a payment in bitcoin, which automatically turns into fiat?
If both answers are yes, then the question is: why such a complicated process? If we have fiat at the entrance and fiat at the exit? And on top of that, there is a time between them, during which the stored bitcoin with a high probability will lose its value, which will lead to the loss of such a holder in the wallet!

I just can't understand the meaning or logic of accepting cryptocurrency as a means of payment in order to get out of a difficult economic situation? This is not an option, this is playing to the public and deceiving people! If you are not right - please, bring your thought in a well-reasoned way?

I think the only way for them to accept BTC is when the news shows that BTC has risen in price, when you have new highs people will say: "If I had had BTC then I would have a lot more money right now" I think when a Such an event is when they will reconsider, it is normal for many to have doubts, but when they see that they can use it as a savings tool that will generate more per year than the interest offered in a bank, they will accept it, it is logical, when it comes to filling your pocket will not seem like a bad idea to anyone.

[Viscore]

I am sure that those who protest for this reason have no idea that the main money laundering has occurred with fiat money, I think that people's ignorance has no cavity here, mainly this is because a lot of financial education is needed.

People mainly do not trust the volatility of BTC, Besides that there is a great campaign against BTC, both in the news and in the opposition of the government, all this helps that people do not understand the social problem very well, which, all it gets stuck for me for that reason.
When a person does not understand a technology, it is normal for them to lean towards the bad, which is shown by the news, actually when watching CNN in Spanish they do not recommend investing in BTC in their programs due to high volatility.

Volatility is not essentially a bad thing. When you are using Bitcoin to make payments or for remittance, if you are using a payment processor then the coins will be immediately converted to fiat currency. Neither the seller, nor the buyer need to worry about the volatility here. And mainstream media has never presented a honest picture of Bitcoin in front of the ordinary people. They would like us to believe that it is the currency of drug dealers and pedophiles, even when they don't have any proof to back it up.

The question arises, how then will all this work?
First, question number
1: bitcoin. How will citizens receive it - after receiving a salary, will they be exchanged for bitcoin?
2. And do they apply - make a payment in bitcoin, which automatically turns into fiat?
If both answers are yes, then the question is: why such a complicated process? If we have fiat at the entrance and fiat at the exit? And on top of that, there is a time between them, during which the stored bitcoin with a high probability will lose its value, which will lead to the loss of such a holder in the wallet!

I just can't understand the meaning or logic of accepting cryptocurrency as a means of payment in order to get out of a difficult economic situation? This is not an option, this is playing to the public and deceiving people! If you are not right - please, bring your thought in a well-reasoned way?

I think the only way for them to accept BTC is when the news shows that BTC has risen in price, when you have new highs people will say: "If I had had BTC then I would have a lot more money right now" I think when a Such an event is when they will reconsider, it is normal for many to have doubts, but when they see that they can use it as a savings tool that will generate more per year than the interest offered in a bank, they will accept it, it is logical, when it comes to filling your pocket will not seem like a bad idea to anyone.

El Salvador citizens should be educated on bitcoin first and how it will be functional to the people and how to use it before it will be declare as a legal tender. I really understand the sentiments of the retirees as they have no enough knowledge on bitcoin so they stick on what they believe about its negative impressions. But if given chances to be well educated, i think they will totally change their stand on bitcoin and will accept bitcoin  as part of their financial system.

The change should not be so quick as people are still learning to adopt it. The process will take time for sure particularly with those aged people and retirees so the government should learn how to guide them too.

[Poker Player]

Then do you agree with me when I said that El Salvador’s Bitcoin Legal Tender Law should NOT force users to accept Bitcoin? Because you posted something that questioned why those people were protesting.

Not completely. No government should force users to accept Bitcoin, or Euros or USD or any kind of fiat. But yeah, you've got a point there.

[Kimonoe]

I am sure that those who protest for this reason have no idea that the main money laundering has occurred with fiat money, I think that people's ignorance has no cavity here, mainly this is because a lot of financial education is needed.

People mainly do not trust the volatility of BTC, Besides that there is a great campaign against BTC, both in the news and in the opposition of the government, all this helps that people do not understand the social problem very well, which, all it gets stuck for me for that reason.
When a person does not understand a technology, it is normal for them to lean towards the bad, which is shown by the news, actually when watching CNN in Spanish they do not recommend investing in BTC in their programs due to high volatility.

Volatility is not essentially a bad thing. When you are using Bitcoin to make payments or for remittance, if you are using a payment processor then the coins will be immediately converted to fiat currency. Neither the seller, nor the buyer need to worry about the volatility here. And mainstream media has never presented a honest picture of Bitcoin in front of the ordinary people. They would like us to believe that it is the currency of drug dealers and pedophiles, even when they don't have any proof to back it up.

The question arises, how then will all this work?
First, question number
1: bitcoin. How will citizens receive it - after receiving a salary, will they be exchanged for bitcoin?
2. And do they apply - make a payment in bitcoin, which automatically turns into fiat?
If both answers are yes, then the question is: why such a complicated process? If we have fiat at the entrance and fiat at the exit? And on top of that, there is a time between them, during which the stored bitcoin with a high probability will lose its value, which will lead to the loss of such a holder in the wallet!

I just can't understand the meaning or logic of accepting cryptocurrency as a means of payment in order to get out of a difficult economic situation? This is not an option, this is playing to the public and deceiving people! If you are not right - please, bring your thought in a well-reasoned way?

I think the only way for them to accept BTC is when the news shows that BTC has risen in price, when you have new highs people will say: "If I had had BTC then I would have a lot more money right now" I think when a Such an event is when they will reconsider, it is normal for many to have doubts, but when they see that they can use it as a savings tool that will generate more per year than the interest offered in a bank, they will accept it, it is logical, when it comes to filling your pocket will not seem like a bad idea to anyone.

for retirees they seem to be old enough to invest again, so there is no more time. when the bitcoin price is at its peak, of course they will scream when they use their pension money, so it seems hard to make money from crypto, it's different when it is used as a means of payment. on the other hand this will be beneficial for young people, because with the government legalizing it, then they will be more free to make a lot of money

[DrBeer]

I think the only way for them to accept BTC is when the news shows that BTC has risen in price, when you have new highs people will say: "If I had had BTC then I would have a lot more money right now" I think when a Such an event is when they will reconsider, it is normal for many to have doubts, but when they see that they can use it as a savings tool that will generate more per year than the interest offered in a bank, they will accept it, it is logical, when it comes to filling your pocket will not seem like a bad idea to anyone.

No offense - you know poorly the psychology of people and society They always remember the worst - this is a fact. There is even an anecdote, a little vulgar, but I will cite it to understand how society thinks (please do not be offended by the content - this is just an anecdote):

An old Scotsman sits in a pub, sits, sips a beer, smokes a pipe.
He sat, sat and said: - This mill, I built myself, alone ... collected stones, mixed mortar and built ... but for some reason no one calls me McFlaren, the mill builder.
He sat there, took a sip of beer, took a drag.
- This garden, which now has the largest harvests of fruits and berries, I planted myself, alone ... everyone rejoices and gathers fruits. But somehow no one calls me McFlaren the gardener.
He sat there, took a sip of beer, took a drag.
- This bridge, I built myself, alone, cut down trees, sanded and made a bridge, now cars drive on it, people walk. But somehow no one calls me McFlaren the bridge builder.
He sat there, took a sip of beer, took a drag.
- But it was worthwhile to fuck this unfortunate sheep once ...

[ene1980]

~
No offense - you know poorly the psychology of people and society They always remember the worst - this is a fact. There is even an anecdote, a little vulgar, but I will cite it to understand how society thinks (please do not be offended by the content - this is just an anecdote):

I liked the anecdote but you need to explain it further as many will be looking at this and think that it is a bloody Christopher Nolan movie script  .
psychology of people and society is that they always remember the worst but there are many who create a topic in speculation who never owned anything substantial and talks about how the market correction in cryptocurrency burned them as if the rest of the financial market levitates without any correction.
When it comes to the protest i stand by the protesters because that is not how a bloody government implements rules. You need to give everyone the opportunity and listen to every parties and clear their doubts and then implement it in multiple phases rather than rushing everything and confusing the general public who have no idea about Bitcoin.
 

[sikke]

I'm not sure why they are protesting this?

They're essentially getting a free injection of capital because of BTC. If any other country was getting citizenship requests that are backed by millions of dollars in pledged investment to my home country I'd accept them in a heartbeat.

Just some archaic thinking. Let it sit for a while and they'll change their minds for sure.

[bitterguy28]

Why did the protest comes month after the acceptance ? why not protest when this was being announced to be legalizing back time?
is this another political motivation ? though i don't really like the president  and even His way of governing yet this is favoring the crypto market so i assume that people in that region will benefits it all.

I'm not sure why they are protesting this?

They're essentially getting a free injection of capital because of BTC. If any other country was getting citizenship requests that are backed by millions of dollars in pledged investment to my home country I'd accept them in a heartbeat.

Just some archaic thinking. Let it sit for a while and they'll change their minds for sure.

it is obvious that there is some other power that behind this protest and I'm sure this is about politics .