Bitcoin and the failure of El Salvador

[minairia3]

It's been a year since ElSalvador took the bold step of becoming the first country in the world to accept Bitcoin as a legal tender. The market is going through bad days so a lot of people think that ElSalvador failed, defaulted when accepting Bitcoin... but I think they were too hasty in judging someone. We all know Bitcoin is a long term investment measured in years, so to know if someone will fail or succeed in investing in Bitcoin give them a few years time.

There's no denying that ElSalvador's investment is losing money, but that's when you're talking USD value, not Bitcoin. ElSalvador bought a total of 2,381 BTC and their Bitcoins remained unchanged.

We always tell each other that 1BTC = 1BTC,
if you don't sell, you won't lose, why rush to conclude that they failed, when they haven't sold any Bitcoins yet?
It can be said that this country has never given up, they are still on the way to building their "Bitcoin City"❤.

It doesn't matter when you enter the market, it matters how long you stay

ElSalvador has been trying to make Bitcoin mass adoption and we, Bitcoiners, instead of denigrating or laughing at them, we should wish them success one day. Once they succeed, they will be a big impetus for other countries to move towards mass Bitcoin adoption.


Congratulations once again #BitcoinDayAtElSalvador.

[passwordnow]

We should take it like this when the market is bullish and we've been on that for so long. These critics will tell that El Salvador did a genius idea and decision.
But when the market is bearish, we'll hear them say that El Salvador did a foolish thing of investing in bitcoin and now they're dropping in losses and only looking at that certain point. It's the same to us when somebody mocks us when our investments are falling due to the drop that we're having in the market. These people are only waiting for our failures but when we're on our peak of having profits, they're silent.

[Baofeng]

We should take it like this when the market is bullish and we've been on that for so long. These critics will tell that El Salvador did a genius idea and decision.
But when the market is bearish, we'll hear them say that El Salvador did a foolish thing of investing in bitcoin and now they're dropping in losses and only looking at that certain point. It's the same to us when somebody mocks us when our investments are falling due to the drop that we're having in the market. These people are only waiting for our failures but when we're on our peak of having profits, they're silent.

Yes, and I think the government of El Salvador has taken this into account already. So when we are in bearish state, they continue to accumulate as much as they can.

So let's see what their critiques will say when we goes into another bull run in 2024-2025. Perhaps they will hide again just like the rest of the anti-bitcoiners who went into hibernation when the market is rallying and come out of the rock when the bearish trend enters.

[Republikcoin.com]

It's been a year since ElSalvador took the bold step of becoming the first country in the world to accept bitcoin as a legal tender. The market is going through bad days so a lot of people think that ElSalvador failed, defaulted when accepting bitcoin... but I think they were too hasty in judging someone. We all know bitcoin is a long term investment measured in years, so to know if someone will fail or succeed in investing in bitcoin give them a few years time.

It's always more appropriate to give them (El Salvador) time because jumping to conclusions too quickly won't be as effective as a complete conclusion. So giving El Salvador time in terms of proving themselves not to fail and still being able to rise when market conditions are not good is a very hard work for El Salvador.

There's no denying that ElSalvador's investment is losing money, but that's when you're talking USD value, not bitcoin. ElSalvador bought a total of 2,381 BTC and their bitcoins remained unchanged.
We always tell each other that 1BTC = 1BTC, if you don't sell, you won't lose, why rush to conclude that they failed, when they haven't sold any bitcoins yet.
It can be said that this country has never given up, they are still on the way to building their "Bitcoin City".

Yeah, 1BTC = 1BTC whose amount will never change if it's not sold or used for other things. Because what has changed now is the price of BTC itself in the market so some people start making hasty conclusions by saying Bitcoin adoption in El Salvador has failed and they think El Salvador has suffered losses regardless of how far the Salvadoran government tries to stay afloat and continue to build his coveted Bitcoin city.

It doesn't matter when you enter the market, it matters how long you stay

For me this is a piece of aphorisms that must be remembered so as not to panic suddenly.

ElSalvador has been trying to make bitcoin mass adoption and we, bitcoiners, instead of denigrating or laughing at them, we should wish them success one day. Once they succeed, they will be a big impetus for other countries to move towards mass bitcoin adoption.
Congratulations once again #BitcoinDayAtElSalvador.

Bitcoin lovers do have to support Bitcoin adoption efforts in El Salvador because when the adoption by El Salvador succeeds one day, of course the good effects for Bitcoin will also be there and one of them is like you said where there will be encouragement and desire for other countries to try to adopt Bitcoin as El Salvador did.

[_act_]

They celebrated the one year yesterday. We should not be thinking about how bitcoin price has falled, bitcoin adoption helped El Salvadorans. It helps in tourism and remittance. Over 70% of Salvadorans are not having bank account, but now people from abroad can easily send money to their relatives and other people with the use of bitcoin. Out of 100% of bitcoin received as salary, remittance and the likes, over 90% are converted to USD. Bitcoin helps in El Salvador.

[348Judah]

We should take it like this when the market is bullish and we've been on that for so long. These critics will tell that El Salvador did a genius idea and decision.
But when the market is bearish, we'll hear them say that El Salvador did a foolish thing of investing in bitcoin and now they're dropping in losses and only looking at that certain point. It's the same to us when somebody mocks us when our investments are falling due to the drop that we're having in the market. These people are only waiting for our failures but when we're on our peak of having profits, they're silent.

Yes, and I think the government of El Salvador has taken this into account already. So when we are in bearish state, they continue to accumulate as much as they can.

So let's see what their critiques will say when we goes into another bull run in 2024-2025. Perhaps they will hide again just like the rest of the anti-bitcoiners who went into hibernation when the market is rallying and come out of the rock when the bearish trend enters.

I don't know why people like to rush into making conclusion on something not yet due for it, El-Savador decision is much enviable by many countries because they lack any fortitude to take such a decision as well, so on a reality base we all have high tendencies of being jealous of what we don't have or do against those having or doing it, very soon it will be a thing of shame on all those castigating El-Savador's decision and blame themselves for not taking a follow, all I've been seing about El-Savador's bitcoin adoption are goodnews all over with satisfaction on taking such decision so I don't know where the haters are coming from and why the attacks, but as to El-Savador, i wish her very best of it all in good wish.

[ololajulo]

Over the years such developments come in the bull,just to keep the momentum but I always think the bear is more appropriate for such adoption where they can pick up bitcoin at cheap price and store. I also think those countries also need to have their stable coin, maybe with backup from by dollar made as profit from the bull and stored bitcoin. A volatile coin at the moment does not make provision of other assets although it make better return on investment than others. 

[tranthidung]

Yeah, 1BTC = 1BTC whose amount will never change if it's not sold or used for other things. Because what has changed now is the price of BTC itself in the market so some people start making hasty conclusions by saying Bitcoin adoption in El Salvador has failed and they think El Salvador has suffered losses regardless of how far the Salvadoran government tries to stay afloat and continue to build his coveted Bitcoin city.

This is always true but does it help your or any entity if you can not hold your Bitcoin long enough to get profit?

You don't know how long you will have to hold it to the profitable date so don't bet. El Salvador President bet that Bitcoin will rise in near future and his country is in serious debt crisis. This is his mistake and collapse can occur if his country has to sell all Bitcoin to get cash for paying debt interest or other reasons.

However I disagree to anyone accuse El Salvador. They just made a history for Bitcoin and the world and we should appreciate that. Especially if the argument or accusation is from people (I don't say it is you) who got profit with the bull run of Bitcoin that is partially contributed by El Salvador legal tender news. They should say thank you to the President and El Salvadorians.

[mk4]

The timing is just really bad. If I remember correctly, the announcements happened when BTC was around like $30k-$40k; so after BTC rose then dropped, negative press was to be expected regardless how much usage BTC is getting in El Salvador.

Funnily enough, people are trashing on Bitcoin and El Salvador as if BTC is their only payment option.

[DdmrDdmr]

It’s a work in progress, and although I don’t favour the term failure to summarize the year, it’s likely pretty shy from the expectancies that were deposited on the adoption of bitcoin as legal tender there.

From the perspective of bitcoin it’s certainly been a success so far, enhancing bitcoin with a real life case use of adoption as legal tender. That alone gives food for thought to many other countries which had never even considered there being an option outside their status-quo. Whether that moves on for any more of them eventually, is yet to be seem, but it’s on some of their radars. It’s also put El Salvador on the radar, which should do them some good.

The country itself has not (allegedly) sold any of the government held bitcoins, so they are not at a realized loss, but obviously the hopes were set in a completely different direction. Not having a realized loss does not mean that there aren’t at a loss in bookkeeping terms.
Out of the top of my mind, I recall they created a Trust for the Chivo System with around 150M $, to provide liquidity to the overall system. Bukele’s Bitcoin purchases allegedly come from that Trust (though there is a lack of transparency as to where the funds for each purchase came from), so on the paper, the Trust does have a diminished current value in USD. The Chivo Pet Hospital (and some schools) were paid with alleged bookkeeping surpluses (yet no realized) due to BTC raise during the first months. A bit of one-way magic there.

But I wouldn’t just stop considering government based BTC purchases. After all, they’ve likely got a way better position to hold and not realize the losses that the segment I’d be more concerned with, which is the general population. It’s not really that trivial to play along with the Hodl mantra for them, and lacking any real data, I can only guess that quite a few have sold at a loss, or at least refrained from saving in bitcoins due to its descending value trend. The reported abundant failures with the Chivo Wallet, the default bitcoin wallet the people there will use, constitutes additional unwanted hassle and reputation loss to the Chivo System.

In addition, remittances through bitcoins are rated currently by the government at just under 2%, which is low for what was one of the key arguments in favour of its usage in the country.

One year is not that much though, and the current conjuncture of multiple macro aspects has not helped at all in getting the local population’s mind-set more into bitcoin usage (and savings). I would have like to see a year of rolling on wheels, but instead we got one full of bolsters in the path.

[franky1]

here is the jist of things. wrote calmly without BS. without embellishments or exaggerations about how things actually went

elsalvadors first attempt into crypto didnt go well last year(sept-jan) because they didnt enter the crypto realm via bitcoin as bitcoin using the bitcoin network

they entered via a bridged sub network with pegged value for transfers(LN) which has known bottlenecks and liquidity issues and a peg that has no consensus security, that could not support 50k(<1%) citizens let alone 6 million people(el salv pop).

they learned this within a couple months. and shifted away from that subnetwork that was being used as the backbone transfer of their wallet system, and moved more to a CEX custodial service to do internal swaps and then actual bitcoin/fiat withdrawals to avoid the locks/liquidity and bottlenecks and peg issues

their other issue was when promoting a new legal tender many citizens thought it was about stopping the utility of fiat in the area to be 100% crypto. which many citizens thought was an impedance to finance not a new extra option/freedom

again those first few months were hit with resistance due to bad promotions where people thought they were being forced to only use crypto in a manner that was not actually the true crypto they were mentioning.

the last kick in the leg that hindered movement last year was the calling it a "bitcoin" project even though the wallet and its backbone network was not the bitcoin network. so again they felt lied to or misinformed

all these 3 things stirred into a unsuccessful adoption due to payment problems and misinformation about what they were actually using, able to use and had access to.
...

this year they are trying it a different way. and progress is more organised, timely and positive. yes this year may be different than last years first couple months. but they are now actually trying to concentrate on bitcoin and not the other subnet that caused them problems

it will take time. but already in 1 year they have more citizens using crypto in the area(120k+(~2% pop (its more but i wont embellish))),  which is more than say the whole of bitcoin had gained in 2010(its first year)
so its progress. just slow

[goldkingcoiner]

El Salvador's problem is not with Bitcoin or their adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender. Thats just the symptoms of their real problem, which is crappy PR for Bitcoin. They at first were able to generate a lot of hype and a lot of excitement. And then? Then nothing. They completely failed when it came to marketing Bitcoin to their own people as well as to the world. They just hoped the hype would continue on its own and somehow Bitcoin would gain value and the people in El Salvador who held Bitcoin would be so grateful for their profits they would spread the adoption of Bitcoin even more. The president of El Salvador counted on that and did not take into account the fact that his people are mostly poor and would rather cash out without hodling so they could pay for stuff they really needed.

But this Pr problem is very fixable. Lets see what El Salvador has to show us.

[mk4]

their other issue was when promoting a new legal tender many citizens thought it was about stopping the utility of fiat in the area to be 100% crypto. which many citizens thought was an impedance to finance not a new extra option/freedom

again those first few months were hit with resistance due to bad promotions where people thought they were being forced to only use crypto in a manner that was not actually the true crypto they were mentioning.

How sure are you with both of these? You'd think someone that's actually from El Salvador knows that BTC was only an alternative, due to the fact that most people still pay with fiat money.

[Bobrox]

We should take it like this when the market is bullish and we've been on that for so long. These critics will tell that El Salvador did a genius idea and decision.
But when the market is bearish, we'll hear them say that El Salvador did a foolish thing of investing in bitcoin and now they're dropping in losses and only looking at that certain point. It's the same to us when somebody mocks us when our investments are falling due to the drop that we're having in the market. These people are only waiting for our failures but when we're on our peak of having profits, they're silent.

When faced market with bearish I think many people claimed the failure and mistake made by El Savador after one years made bitcoin as legal currency transaction, will have different opinion when bitcoin and market on bullish condition all people minds said El Savador become most important country after bitcoin become legal currency transaction. Ever when first time El Savador announce about bitcoin as legal currency transaction success made new all time high although later bitcoin price drop drastically. All human attitude when getting profit from bitcoin investing they will silent, then talk more and looking fault when faced with bitcoin price drop drastically. Who ever countries want to make bitcoin as legal currency transaction or not need to make our research before investing in bitcoin and know the right time have to buy or sell.

[BITCOIN4X]

I find no reason why El Salvador is said to have failed for their bitcoin adoption. El Salvador managed to adopt bitcoin as a legal tender and as a currency, it was a success not a failure. If you think that El Salvador is failing its bitcoin adoption, then I think that's the wrong decision to think about.

El Salvador has provided a good choice for every citizen about financial freedom especially regarding the payment system. Almost every citizen has a bank in his own hands to spend his bitcoins at any time, it was the greatest success for El Salvador to get out of the centralized financial system. We don't judge a failure just because their investment is now lost due to a drop in the bitcoin price, it's something that has nothing to do with their successful adoption. If their investment loses today, it doesn't mean that adoption is also failing and vice versa, if their investment is successful in the future it doesn't mean all citizens will adopt bitcoin. Two things should be assessed differently, investment and adoption.

[famososMuertos]

The fact that there is critical thinking against bitcoin in its development in el salvador does not indicate being against the project and everything that is being developed in El Salvador, but without a doubt the data by which this project should be measured cannot be hidden. These results, in fact, and celebrate such a date should not be points of conflict.

That bitcoin has finally become legal currency is a fact that we still believed was far away, and it is happening, and that fulfilled idea is already beginning to gain experience, although it is a pity that it cannot be strengthened in this mandate of Bukele, who in reality He is the one who drives it and maintains it.

[BitcoinHodler]

1 year is so short for HODLERs, bitcoin has been around for 13 years and it hasn't reached mass adoption anywhere so we shouldn't expect it to reach mass adoption in el Salvador just because it is legal tender there.

[yhiaali3]

Yes, it is true, as long as there is no selling, there is no loss because Bitcoin remains the same. Whoever sold at the current price is the loser. As for El Salvador, they are still clinging to the dream they started. Temporary loss does not mean loss at all. The results must be looked at in the long run, then it can be judged whether the experiment failed or No, we all wish El Salvador success in its bold step.

[avikz]

1 bitcoin = 1 bitcoin

This is a flawed narrative! Unless and until we value bitcoin using a fiat currency, bitcoin is not going to be adopted by the mass. Bitcoin has not yet reached to a position where we can value goods and services in bitcoin's unit. So when the value of bitcoin is going down, El-Salvadorians can't cheer about its investment into bitcoin.

It's just one year El-Salvador had adopted bitcoin. So it's too early to conclude if they have failed or not. When bitcoin will reach 100,000, I will revisit such arguments.

[Apocollapse]

El Salvador accepting Bitcoin as legal tender isn't a failure, talking about price is the main reason of failure is a baseless opinion.

When Bitcoin become legal tender, it's mean it's used as a currency for daily spending. Not like other countries which accept Bitcoin as an underlying asset that mainly for investment or trading. El Salvador never failure to accept Bitcoin as legal tender, even the price decrease for 95% it can't be said as failure. It's failure when there's no citizens on El Salvador didn't ever use Bitcoin!