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On Sunday, February 4, El Salvador's presidential election will determine whether Nayib Bukele and his revolutionary experiment with bitcoin will have a continued presence in the nation's future.
From Najib Look He became president of El Salvador in 2019, and has enjoyed a fairly broad support base; he was the first man since 1984 to win independently of the country's two main political parties. However, the issue that has led his administration to be the topic of global discussion has been his support for bitcoin. Bukele made world history in September 2021 when he elevated it to legal currency, and El Salvador's radical experiment with bitcoin has captivated interest around the world ever since.
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Naturally, much of this interest has been negative, especially from the financial and media establishment around the world. The bitcoin law came into effect just weeks before bitcoin fell from its all-time highs, and this led to no small amount of speculation that the government would lose huge sums as a result. More pressingly, financial bitcoin-more-countries-clamp-down-2022-01-26/”>institutions
in a bitcoin-plans-bukele-wins-reelection”>interview On January 31, Bukele's running mate Félix Ulloa went out of his way to emphasize that a re-election will mean a firm new commitment to bitcoin. Although Ulloa revealed that the IMF has been quietly repeating its requests to delist bitcoin in El Salvador, he insisted that these requests are falling on deaf ears. a particular source of bitcoin-after-election-vice-president-2024-02-01/”>strengthhe claimed Reuters, was the takeoff of the ETF in the United States. For him, a big victory like this means that bitcoin “enjoys the greatest credibility around the world.” Ulloa not only stated that existing laws in support of bitcoin “will remain,” but also added that the proposed infrastructure project “bitcoin City” continues to enjoy full government support.
Regarding surveys, a broad variety of international press agencies all accept that Bukele's victory is practically assured. Apparently, the centerpiece of its popularity actually has nothing to do with bitcoin, as a large number of citizens follow crypto-payments-puts-el-salvadors-bitcoin-adoption-in-question”>unconvinced. Instead, it appears that its extensive crackdown on gang activity is the main reason, causing El Salvador's homicide rate to fall from a shocking 105 murders per 100,000 residents in 2015 to 7.8 per 100,000. inhabitants, the lowest in the region. In other words, his voters love him very much, but so far they remain ambivalent about the bitcoin initiative. Fickle support like this could be downright dangerous, as future economic hardships could turn this indifference into outright rejection. However, as all polls suggest, Bukele will have another mandate to convince the people of him.
Fortunately, there are extensive plans to try to deepen these connections in multiple spheres of life. The use of an international currency such as bitcoin has attracted the flow of international spending, with bitcoin-boost-tourism-growth-in-el-salvador/?sh=503659e159a6″>tourism to the nation has increased in recent years. In addition to these more occasional cash inflows, the government has also bitcoin-investors-2023-12-21/”>motivated more permanent immigration by allowing foreign citizens to directly purchase citizenship with bitcoin investment. These attempts to raise foreign dollars can definitely impact the nation's citizens, but efforts are also being made to create jobs directly in this burgeoning industry.
Since October, El Salvador has partnered with several companies to create mining infrastructure powered by geothermal energy. bitcoin mining is a growing market around the world, and the use of green energy easily eludes the most common refrain against it. These goals of creating domestic jobs and attracting foreign investment are under the umbrella of the aforementioned “bitcoin City.” bitcoin-city-financed-by-crypto-bonds”>projecta plan with the long-term goal of fostering all the various jobs in software development and blockchain engineering associated with the digital asset space.
If El Salvador voters decide to re-elect Bukele on February 4, he will have a lot of work ahead of him to ensure bitcoin has a lasting presence. So far, many of its citizens are earning additional income from international travelers interested in bitcoin or participating in building new pools to mine it. Although the economy is growing, this has not been enough to convince its people of all the possibilities of a radically new economic future. However, she has nevertheless earned his love, as his government has continually enjoyed fierce public support. In other words, re-election is very likely and the experiment will continue throughout the five years of his second term. However, the biggest challenge of these five years will be ensuring that bitcoin becomes a reality for its people. Still, as daunting a task as this may seem, he has already been working to normalize bitcoin in a wide variety of ways.
As an example of this, last year the country partnered with one of its largest distributors, allowing a large number of companies to begin accepting bitcoins for the most mundane transactions. Furthermore, these normalization efforts have extended beyond the borders of El Salvador. El Salvador needs the support of its citizens, but also wants to encourage broader support from other nations. The Central African Republic (CAR) was directly inspired by El Salvador when crypto.news/bitcoin-as-legal-tender-in-el-salvador-and-the-car-key-lessons/”>briefly became the second nation to adopt bitcoin as legal currency. However, this effort was simply impossible to sustain in a country where around 90% of citizens do not have access to the Internet, and it was shut down in 2023. The Central African Republic was not the only country that was influenced by Bukele's government. , since in fact he sent a bitcoin-el-salvador-to-visit-argentina/”>equipment of “bitcoin Ambassadors” in Argentina after the election of its new president last November. Outreach efforts like this will go a long way toward ensuring that El Salvador is the first country to accept bitcoin as legal tender, but it won't be the last.
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Some of these initiatives highlight how El Salvador's bitcoin project has radically different goals from the ETF battle in the United States, although Salvadorans like Vice President Ulloa are naturally encouraged by its victory. The ETF is a financial instrument that allows ordinary Americans some additional opportunities to benefit indirectly from the success of bitcoin, while bitcoin has a radical vision for anyone in the world to take control of their economic fortune. Nayib Bukele has shown a real interest in promoting bitcoin as part of everyday life, as evidenced by the variety of ways in which he has encouraged economic development and his attempts at international outreach. Our community needs fighters like those who fought the ETF battle, but it's important to remember that bitcoin means much more than a way to earn fiat currency. If Bukele has the opportunity to truly integrate bitcoin into El Salvador society, he will show the world what kind of success bitcoin can offer us all.
