On September 7, El Salvador enters into force a law that makes Bitcoin legal tender in local jurisdictions. This event was preceded by the announcement of the adoption of the cryptocurrency by the President of Salvador Nayyib Bukele in the summer.
And although he was met with support in the cryptocurrency community, the Salvadorans themselves are in no hurry to rejoice. A recent survey of the population of the University of Central America (UCA) showed that most of El Salvador’s residents disagree with the government’s strategy. Let’s talk about what is happening in more detail.
Note that it is dangerous to criticize the actions of the authorities in El Salvador. Proof of this was the detention on the eve of a specialist in cryptocurrencies and computer systems, Mario Gomez. The activist has often criticized the president’s decision to make BTC a national currency. In addition, he talked about the payment of fees for transactions in the national cryptocurrency wallet Chivo at the expense of citizens, although initially they were positioned as zero. Read more about the story in a separate article .
Apparently, many citizens are also not happy with the government’s initiative. At least according to the polls, they do not share the enthusiasm for recognizing Bitcoin as a national currency in the country.
President of El Salvador Nayyib Bukele
El Salvador vs Bitcoin
1281 people took part in the survey . 67.9 percent of respondents disagree or fundamentally disagree with the fact that Bitcoin will soon become a legal tender. Slightly less than a third of survey participants still see something positive in this event.
Here is a quote from UCA Dean Andreu Oliva on this matter, in which the expert shares his vision of what is happening. The cue is from Decrypt .
In addition to abandoning Bitcoin as legal tender, we have found, for the first time, significant divisions between the public and the decisions made by the Legislature and the President. There are too many concerns about the negative consequences of using cryptocurrency at the state level.
First of all, analysts are confused by the volatility of Bitcoin, that is, its sharp changes in value. According to experts, this feature is definitely not suitable for ordinary citizens who may not wait out the conditional collapse of the cryptocurrency price twice. The same goes for companies whose existence depends on the amount of available funds for day-to-day operating expenses.
The country is also facing the problem of infrastructure for carrying out crypto payments. In case of its imperfection, the business owners will have to be directly responsible for the storage of coins. Well, this will make them a target for hackers from all over the world, experts suggest.
Point of sale in El Salvador
A study commissioned by the Francisco Gavidia University Center for Civic Studies (UFG) earlier this summer , sources said, found that more than three quarters of Salvadorans considered the use of bitcoin in everyday life «not very wise» or «completely unreasonable. » And opposition to the government manifests itself not only in polls, but even in protests. For example, in July, a group of activists from the «Block of Resistance and Uprising» held a rally against the adoption of Bitcoin near the building of the country’s Legislative Assembly.
A little more crypt on the streets of El Salvador
And yet, September 7 is already close – after that date, local businesses will be forced to accept BTC if customers want it. Earlier, Bukele promised that the integration of the crypt would be voluntary, but it seems that this is not the case: digital assets will first be actively and persistently promoted.
We believe that with such strong resistance from the population, there will be neither good economic results , nor the correct ideology. After all, Satoshi Nakamoto promoted the idea of independence and freedom from the traditional financial system, not totalitarianism.
However, in general, the popularization of cryptocurrency on a national scale is in any case positive for the industry. There was no such thing before, which means that the example of El Salvador can become indicative for other states. Even if not the smoothest.
