El Salvador President on Bitcoin: “I Expected More Adoption”

El Salvador’s Pro Bitcoin President Nayib Bukele, recently featured on the TIME Magazine cover, noted that while the country’s Bitcoin strategy has been positive for the country, the adoption rate has fallen short of what he had expected.

In the interview with TIME, Bukele pointed out that Bitcoin has played a significant role in the lives of many of the nation’s citizens, along with having a positive impact on promoting tourism, branding, and showing the world that El Salvador prioritizes “being a free country, free in every way.”

El Salvador was the first country to adopt such a bold and experimental Bitcoin strategy and for Bukele, “It hasn’t been the adoption [he] expected.”

Bitcoin has had a strong presence in the nation’s economic growth, despite adoption not meeting expectations.

“I feel that it could have worked better, and there is still time to make some improvements, but it hasn’t resulted in anything negative. On the contrary, it gave us branding, it brought us investments, it brought us tourism.”- Source

According to data from the Banco Central De Reserva De El Salvador, net inflows of foreign direct investment have seen a steep increase as the nation shows signs of strong economic recovery, while others feel El Salvador is at risk of economic stagnation .

Image Source: Americasquarterly.org

Per Bukele: The Future of Bitcoin in El Salvador

President Bukele has high hopes for the future of Bitcoin in El Salvador. Since officially adopting Bitcoin in 2021, the nation has been buying Bitcoin regularly and now holds 5.858k Bitcoin valued at approximately $345.61 million .

Before their Bitcoin adoption strategy, El Salvador was one of the poorest nations in the Americas, on the brink of an IMF Bailout. Since then, thanks to their aggressive Bitcoin purchases and buying 1 BTC per day , El Salvador is now one of the richest countries in Central America due to its Bitcoin holdings.

El Salvador Bitcoin Tracker. Image Source: Nayibtracker.com

Despite some criticisms , Bukele considers the digital asset has gained a lot of positive attention for the country and being the “first mover” has given them an advantage and the positive outcomes have outweighed the negatives.

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Disclaimer: Crypto is a high-risk asset class. This article is provided for informational purposes and does not constitute investment advice. You could lose all of your capital.