President Bukele fires back at critics on 'Bitcoin experiment'

Published at: Dec. 24, 2021

On Thursday, President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador reaffirmed his belief forBitcoin (BTC) supremacy on Twitter once again, this time stating that after widespread adoption occurs, "it's game over for fiat."

The Salvadoran president has been a mainstay in news headlines due to his regular BTC purchases and absolute pro-Bitcoin stance. He has made frequent statements and comments to support the original cryptocurrency while refusing to budge in the face of criticism that Bitcoin is a bad idea for the nation.

Related: El Salvador buys a smokin’ hot 420 more Bitcoin

President Bukele's recent tweet comes as the international community launches a barrage against El Salvador for its "Bitcoin experiment."

The IMF criticized El Salvador's move to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in June, but the country nevertheless passed it and began accepting BTC as legal money in September. Governor of the Bank of England, Andrew Bailey, is a known critic of Bitcoin. More recently, while speaking at the University of Cambridge Students' Union, Bailey expressed his concerns over El Salvador's decision to use Bitcoin as a currency due to its extreme volatility.

What has been called by international organizations as “The #Bitcoin Experiment”, is nothing more than the world watching how mass adoption changes a country’s economy.If it’s for the good, it’s game over for FIAT.El Salvador is the spark that ignites the real revolution.

— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) December 23, 2021

However, Bukele fired back at his critics, pointing out that while the rest of the world regarded El Salvador as a "Bitcoin experiment," they were transforming their economy with Bitcoin mass adoption. Bukele also claimed that when fiat is no longer a factor compared to the BTC dominance, El Salvador will be regarded as the spark that starts the real revolution.

Since adopting Bitcoin as legal currency, El Salvador has used Bitcoin profits or the "surplus" from its Bitcoin Trust account to finance the construction of 20 schools. In mid-October, Bukele announced that the government would spend $4 million from the Bitcoin Trust to build a new veterinary hospital in San Salvador.

President Bukele's latest riff comes as El Salvador recently bought 21 BTC on Tuesday to celebrate the “last 21st day of the year 21 of the 21st century” and commemorate the scarcity of Bitcoin as its supply is limited by 21 million BTC.

Tags
Adoption
Bitcoin
Regulation
Cryptocurrencies
Investments
Fiat Money
El Salvador
Related Posts
Bitcoin needs clear regulations to be less volatile, Bridgewater analyst says
A senior analyst at asset management firm Bridgewater believes that regulation could potentially make Bitcoin (BTC) a good asset for institutional investors. Bridgewater director of investment research Rebecca Patterson claimed that regulatory certainty around Bitcoin would solve some of the cryptocurrency’s biggest problems associated with high volatility and low liquidity. In a Feb. 24 interview with Bloomberg, Patterson said that issues like volatility and liquidity remain the main hurdles for Bridgewater’s potential move into Bitcoin. “Right now Bitcoin can move 10% on a tweet, that’s not exactly a store of wealth for most institutional investors. So the volatility of Bitcoin …
Adoption / Feb. 26, 2021
‘Closer Than Ever’ to Bitcoin ETF, Says Bitwise Ahead of SEC Deadline
Executives at Bitwise Asset Management are highly optimistic as the deadline for the United States Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) decision on their proposed Bitcoin (BTC) exchange-traded fund (ETF) looms. Days ahead of the Oct. 13 deadline, an Oct. 7 CNBC report cites Matt Hougan, managing director and global head of research at Bitwise, saying: “We’re closer than we’ve ever been before to getting a Bitcoin ETF approved.” “No more ways to postpone it at this point” As Cointelegraph reported, Bitwise filed its latest application for a physically held Bitcoin ETF with the SEC in January. In August, the regulator …
Adoption / Oct. 8, 2019
CBDC is a tool to combat Bitcoin, says Bank of Indonesia exec
Central bank digital currencies (CBDC), digital versions of national currencies introduced in response to growing cryptocurrency adoption, would be an essential tool for combating crypto, according to the Bank of Indonesia. The central bank of Indonesia is considering launching a digital rupiah to “fight” against cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Bank of Indonesia’s assistant governor Juda Agung said at a recent parliamentary meeting. “A CBDC would be one of the tools to fight crypto. We assume that people would find CBDC more credible than crypto. CBDC would be part of an effort to address the use of crypto in financial transactions,” …
Adoption / Nov. 30, 2021
What should the crypto industry expect from regulators in 2022? Experts answer, Part 1
Yat Siu of Animoca Brands Yat is the co-founder and executive chairman of Animoca Brands, which delivers digital property rights to the world’s gamers and internet users, thereby creating a new asset class, play-to-earn economies and a more equitable digital framework contributing to the building of the open Metaverse. “Regulation will start to become more defined in 2022, although how, exactly, remains to be seen. 2021’s milestone was probably the substantial growth in public awareness of blockchain — Collins Dictionary even declared ‘NFT’ the word of the year.” These quotes have been edited and condensed. The views, thoughts and opinions …
Decentralization / Jan. 8, 2022
El Salvador celebrates Bitcoin anniversary: A year of ups and downs
Sept. 7, 2022 marks exactly one year since El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender by enforcing the Bitcoin Law. Advocating for Bitcoin as legal tender last year, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele promised that Bitcoin adoption would benefit the 70% of the local population that had a lack of access to banking services as of 2021. The Salvadoran government also touted Bitcoin as a tool to attract foreign investment, create new jobs and cut reliance on the U.S. dollar in the country’s economy. One may question the current real benefits …
Adoption / Sept. 7, 2022