As a condition of a new IMF loan package, El Salvador’s President Buquel has to accept three aspects of the Bitcoin law passed in 2021:
- A legal tender mandate that requires businesses to accept Bitcoin
- Shutting down Chivo, state run wallet and on/off ramp service
- Tax payments are no longer accepted in Bitcoin
Ultimately everything except the last one is a positive change. Legal tender laws are ultimately coercive, and in my opinion should not exist. Chivo was a buggy mess, and alternatives exist such as Blink. The only negative (arguably), is that the state is no longer accepting Bitcoin for tax payments.
People are losing their minds over these changes on Twitter, selling things by the bushel, not pretending to be a bitcoiner, etc. Many people display an attitude that shows they are misled, or deceived.
Well, here’s a wake-up call. Buckel was never going to be Bitcoin’s first and foremost champion. He is the leader of a nation of about six million people. that Was always going to be his first priority. If it wasn’t, he would be a terrible leader.
El Salvador is a country plagued by poverty, first by violent organized crime. It was the murder capital of the world. Infrastructure was deteriorating and deteriorating, people could no longer participate in the economy without paying protection money to violent gangs like MS-13. A large number of the population migrated abroad to escape these things.
Bitcoin is nothing more than a tool, one of many, for Buckel to deal with these problems. And all this should be for the leader of a nation. Buckel’s reason for being in power isn’t to pump our bags, or further the cause of Bitcoin, it’s to help. Salvadoran people.
While Bitcoin is not the best way to do this, he should admit that. When depriving Bitcoin is in the best interest of his people, he should do it. Regardless of how you feel about governments, or nation states, this is a leader’s job. To look after the best interests of his people.
That’s what he’s doing here, and anyone who expects him to do that is delusional and narcissistic. Bukele is not the president of Bitcoin, he is the president of El Salvador. The Salvadoran people are the ones he is accountable to, not a bunch of clowns on the internet.
This article is a take. The views expressed are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
