Why El Salvador Made Bitcoin Legal Tender with President Nayib Bukele

“This is just exercising our sovereign right to adopt legal tenders, like we adopted the US dollar in the year 2001...the only difference probably is the reasons why we are doing this; in 2001, it was probably done for the benefit of the banks, and this decision is done for the benefit of the people.”
— Nayib Bukele

Location: El Salvador
Date: Friday 18th June
Project: El Salvador
Role: President

Twenty years ago, El Salvador became a dollarised nation, bringing economic stability to the country and improving the country's potential for investment. However, it did so at the cost of giving up its monetary policy to the US Federal bank.

Two decades later, following the COVID-19, the global economic outlook has changed significantly. As a result, the Fed has taken extreme measures to combat the economic impact of the pandemic and is printing money at previously unseen levels. 

The stimulus packages that help American's do not make their way to dollarised El Salvador, but the people of Salvadorans do suffer the adverse effects of the US debasing the dollar.

Two years ago, Nayib Bukele won a landslide presidential election in El Salvador, becoming the first President since the Salvadoran Civil War who did not represent either of the two major parties.

As the founder of the political party Nuevas Ideas, President Bukele lived up to his reputation when on the 8th of June 2021, El Salvador enacted its Bitcoin Law, making it the first country to adopt bitcoin as a legal tender. The decision has been met with excitement and scepticism. 

Could this bold move be a catalyst for prosperity in El Salvador? And will other nations follow suit, potentially helping billions?

In his first interview since the Bitcoin law was passed, I talked to El Salvador President Nayib Bukele. We discuss the decision to make bitcoin legal tender, education & infrastructure, volcano mining, and why he believes bitcoin is a ‘no-brainer’.

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WBD363 - Show Notes

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