El Salvador is looking to the future for its citizens although it is still significant in the red about its Bitcoin bet because it is aware that new technology takes time to be embraced. The IMF is simultaneously attempting to stop the train because an extended fund facility has still not been agreed upon.
It would have been understood that numerous obstacles would have to be overcome and that El Salvador would have to face a lot of criticism, notably from the legacy monetary system, when the country’s visionary president, Nayib Bukele, proclaimed Bitcoin to be legal tender alongside the dollar.
Nevertheless, the nation and its distinctive monetary system have survived and considering that bitcoin has experienced a significant uptrend over the past few weeks, there may be some solace in the shape of higher bitcoin prices that will give El Salvador’s balance sheet a somewhat more positive tone.
Alejandro Zelaya, the nation’s finance minister, spoke to Bloomberg on Wednesday. Although it was still not widely used, he claimed that bitcoin had offered financial services to a largely unbanked population.
“For some, it’s something new and something they don’t entirely understand, but it’s a phenomenon that exists and is gaining ground and will continue to be around in the coming years.”
But he said that the government was confident in the course it was taking and that it still intended to issue a bond backed by bitcoin. Whatever the case, the $1 billion bitcoin-backed bond has undoubtedly been placed on hold until the situation gets better due to the sharp decline in the price of bitcoin.
Zelaya commented on how his nation has embraced modern technology:
“I believe in the traditional, international monetary system just as I believe that new technologies are going to help human beings in the future. So, I think making that transition is vital and it would be wrong of us to not pursue financial innovation that could benefit El Salvador.”
El Salvador has so far bought 2,381 bitcoins, which are now only worth about 50% of what they were once worth. However, Zelaya said that the government will continue to press forward with its ambitions to build its “Bitcoin City” and that further bitcoin initiatives will be unveiled in the coming months.
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