El Salvador President Calls Bitcoin Adoption a Net Positive

• Bukele acknowledged he had not seen as many advantages as he had hoped.
• Time magazine named the president the most popular authoritarian in the world.

After legalizing Bitcoin as legal tender, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele expressed disappointment that the country’s adoption of the cryptocurrency had not progressed as far as expected.

Although he acknowledged he had not seen as many advantages as he had hoped, Bukele said in an interview with Time magazine that Bitcoin (BTC) adoption was a “net positive” for El Salvador. The interview was published on August 29. In his remarks, the president drew parallels between the government’s “voluntary” and non-enforced adoption of Bitcoin and its attitude toward demonstrators.

Bukele stated:

“[A] lot more could definitely be done. Bitcoin hasn’t had the widespread adoption we hoped for. Many Salvadorans use it; The majority of large businesses in the country have it. You can go to a McDonald’s, a supermarket, or a hotel and pay with Bitcoin. It hasn’t had the adoption we expected.”

Crackdown on Crimes

Moreover, Time magazine named the Salvadoran president the most popular authoritarian in the world, and in an Aug. 29 X post, he seemed to celebrate this label. The murder rate in El Salvador has come down dramatically since the new government took office in June 2019.

But many have said that his administration’s crackdown on gang activities, which includes arresting opponents of the administration, violates human rights. Despite reports that police used tear gas and batons to quell protests, Bukele said El Salvador remained the most secure nation in the Western Hemisphere.

Bukele gained the attention of many in the cryptocurrency sector in 2021 when, at the Bitcoin Conference in Miami, he stated his intention to have El Salvador accept Bitcoin as legal tender.

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