Min menu

Pages

News Ticker

El Salvador launches national bitcoin office

 


El Salvador launches national bitcoin office


All bitcoin projects in El Salvador will be coordinated and advised by the Office's "specialized administrative unit."


The Government of El Salvador has intensified its encryption initiatives by establishing a National Bitcoin Office (ONBTC), which will oversee all local projects related to the asset.


The new Agency will also be able to cooperate with other countries on issues related to the Agreement.



Despite the long bear market

El Salvador's authorities seem determined to

strengthen their bitcoin strategy.


The Government has established a National Bitcoin Office operating as a "specialized administrative unit, with functional and technical autonomy within the Presidency of the Republic."


The Agency will be free to manage and consult with local bitcoin projects and join other countries' organizations in initiatives related to leading digital currency:


ONBTC's objective will be to design, diagnose

plan :

  1. programme
  2. coordinate
  3. follow up
  4. measure

analyse and evaluate bitcoin-related plans, programmes and projects for the economic development of the country."


The entity will analyze all individuals who wish to meet the BTC-loving president Bukele to discuss the country's blockchain trajectory.


It will also work closely with various ministries to draft appropriate regulations on the local encryption sector and introduce education programmes for Salvadorans.


All public institutions shall cooperate with the United Nations Peacebuilding Support Office in Burundi in the performance of its functions and objectives.


For example :

  • When necessary, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will assist
  • international cooperation, while independent municipalities
  • and municipalities can do so to
  • the extent permitted by their regulations ".


President Bukele will appoint the Agency's director

while the latter will appoint all

the necessary staff according to his understanding.


The government introduced a bill earlier this week aimed at establishing regulations on the local crypto industry through the formation of a specific committee.

Until recently :

  • In the past year, the country became a
  • the first to adopt the currency as a legal currency within its borders.


It announced plans to create

the city of Bitcoin and built a huge hospital using

profits from its purchases of Bitcoin.


The latest data reveal that the Central American nation owns 2,381, equivalent to approximately $40 million (calculated at current prices).

However :

President Bukele revealed that the government will start buying one bitcoin daily starting November 18.




Is the President of El Salvador's decision to buy one bitcoin a day a good idea?

Undoubtedly :

one of Bitcoin's biggest fans is Neb Bukele, president of El Salvador.


The politician received approval in 2021 to make the core cryptocurrency a local currency along with the US dollar.


Since then, he has been a strong supporter of bitcoin, despite negative events that contributed to bitcoin's recession.



A notable example is that Bukele announced today on its Twitter page that from November 18, 2022, El Salvador will buy one bitcoin daily.


El Salvador's history with bitcoin since September 7, 2021

has become legal in El Salvador.

However :

this was not a decision supported by the entire population. Many protests have arisen against the mandatory use of bitcoin in institutions.


Even the International Monetary Fund (IMF) demanded that the Central American country stop using cryptocurrencies as official funds.


None of this:

however "

was an obstacle for El Salvador's president to stop supporting bitcoin.


A study of the use of volcanoes in bitcoin mining has been carried out, a city dedicated to encryption is being established and the country continues to buy cryptocurrency.


The turmoil over Bukele's decision was even greater when the cryptocurrency market began to undergo an intense correction, resulting in bitcoin falling from $52,700 in September 2021 to $16,581 currently.




According to economist Ricardo Castañeda

El Salvador's losses are estimated at $70 million.


However, this collapse does not seem to bother Bukele

who stated in June this year that the country's government bought 80 bitcoins at $19,000 each and now intends to continue this pace of accumulation with one bitcoin a day.


But is that a good decision?

How bitcoin is introduced to the nation has already been questioned.

After all :

bitcoin was not designed to be compulsory but used by anyone who chose to.


Even Vitalik Butyren

the creator of Ethereum

  1. stated that it was not a good
  2. decision for Bukele to
  3. create a mandatory use of cryptocurrency.


Without the population having a real understanding of the blockchain world, they end up thinking that the country is losing money with this movement and doesn't have a long-term vision, because they don't understand the real value of bitcoin.



A good example of this was noted in a poll in June this year.

Seventy-one percent of the 1,270 Salvadorans interviewed said the bitcoin law does not bring them any financial benefit.



According to the survey :

conducted by the Institute of Public Opinion at the University of Central America "José Simeon Kanias", 12.8% of Salvadorans said the law had little economic benefit for their families.

Therefore :

it is clear that

  1. the population cannot understand
  2. the proposed value of
  3. the cryptocurrency: money without state intervention.


On the contrary :

the state forces them to use bitcoin. In this sense, as the cryptocurrency market grows tense and more companies are affected by the FTX crash, more declines in bitcoin can be expected, and Bukele's decision to continue buying cryptocurrency may inspire more negative populations towards bitcoin.




Comments