El Salvador Ambassador To US: You Fear Others Will Follow Us On Bitcoin
El Salvador seems to be one step ahead of other countries when it comes to Bitcoin and crypto adoption. The nation earlier this year approved bitcoin as legal tender and more recently announced plans to build a “Bitcoin City.”
Many other countries seem to be viewing this a threat, including the United States, according to Milena Mayorga, El Salvador’s ambassador to the United States.
“They are afraid and concerned because a lot of countries are looking at us, and they will follow our leadership.”
Early September this year, El Salvador adopted bitcoin as legal tender, which shook the international monetary establishment. That, a young vocal head of state Nayib Bukele, and other increasingly ambitious plans to put bitcoin at the center of its economy, are wagers that America’s global influence is not what it used to be.
Ambassador Mayorga elaborated:
“I know the concerns here in D.C. are about losing the power of the dollar and we can understand that, but El Salvador has to move on. It wants to be on a different level.”
El Salvador’s native currency, the colón, failed to deliver, and in 2001 the country adopted the U.S. dollar as a legal tender, which it still is along with Bitcoin.
Many international (US friendly) financial institutions have raised concerns about El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption. The Washington headquartered International Monetary Fund (IMF) adviced El Salvador to strengthen the regulation and supervision of bitcoin use in the country, noting the “significant risks” that come with the cryptocurrency, as if USD provides a better choice.
Next year El Salvador will be under monitor. President Bukele recently announced “Bitcoin City” project – a low-tax, legal jurisdiction inside El Salvador, coined for crypto operators. In addition, the country has plans to raise $1 billion via a bitcoin bond, a tokenized financial instrument in partnership with Bitcoin infrastructure company Blockstream.
While El Salvador is still the only country that has made bitcoin equal to the U.S. dollar, many smaller nations are beginning to think seriously about digital currencies. Neighboring Honduras and Guatemala, for instance, are both studying central bank digital currencies.
So far, U.S. has not directly brought up the topic of El Salvador and Bitcoin, but Mayorga noted:
“We have to have the conversation, but we are an independent country, so [U.S. should] accept our movement and understand that we want to take ourselves to a different level and with a definitional system.”
