Photo: MARVIN RECINOS / AFP via Getty Images). / Getty Images
The month of September arrived and with it finally the entry into force in El Salvador of the law that allows the adoption of bitcoin as legal tender. This will be from next September 7 and already many Salvadorans show their discontent.
Under this law approved last June in the Central American country, every economic agent in El Salvador is obliged to accept bitcoin as a payment method. The intention of the Salvadoran president, Nayib Bukele with this initiative is to contribute to the banking of Salvadorans and facilitate the remittance process.
This legislation that for many is historical for others has generated a lot of skepticism, it is first considered that the approval of the law was hasty and does not convince due to the volatility of the cryptocurrency market in general.
The two main arguments of the “anti-bitcoiners” is volatility and money laundering. Within the group of protesters s against the adoption of this cryptocurrency the disabled, workers, veterans and retirees stood out; the latter particularly concerned that the government will start paying their pensions in bitcoins instead of US dollars.
“We know that this currency fluctuates dramatically. Its value changes from one second to the next and we will have no control over it ”says a union leader who is afraid of receiving a salary in digital currency.
A BTC against the USD can change its value in just hours up to 10%. There is another fear why the people of El Salvador reject the implementation of Bitcoin as legal tender in the country: and it is ignorance and little understanding they have regarding this new technology.
HUMBLE PEOPLE DO NOT WANT # BITCOIN , ALL # We Don’t WantBitcoin , only the # BUKELES want the # Bitcoin . pic.twitter.com/YeAafHGCqS
– Blanca Huezo (@blanca_huezo) August 26, 2021
The protesters’ posters clearly express “No to Bitcoin.” Some local media in El Salvador have reviewed the news of protests as “a broad campaign of the opposition to the government” .
The association of International Carriers also protested the use of bitcoin and asked the government to reconsider the approval of this law.
For its part, the Bukele government proposed a fund of $ 150 millions of dollars in order to guarantee convertibility, that is, to guarantee that bitcoin can return to the dollar at all times.
If the implementation of cryptocurrencies in the financial system of your country, mainly due to its use in sending remittances. In fact, statistics highlight that the sending of bitcoins to El Salvador quadrupled in the middle of the year .
In the same way and despite the disagreement of many Salvadorans, in June the installation of bitcoin ATMs was installed in all the country . It was the American company Athena Bitcoin that installed a total of 14 ATM machines, to begin with.