El Salvador’s pro-Bitcoin president, Nayib Bukele, recently weighed in on the country’s bold experiment with Bitcoin, calling the strategy a “net positive” despite BTC adoption not meeting initial expectations.
In an interview with TIME Magazine, Bukele acknowledged the challenges faced but remained optimistic about the potential for future development.
“Bitcoin has not been adopted as widely as we had hoped,” Bukele admitted, adding: “I feel it could have worked better and there is still time to make some improvements, but it has not resulted in anything negative.”
Under Bukele’s leadership, El Salvador became the first country to accept Bitcoin as legal tender in 2021, a move that caught the attention of the world. The initiative also included the purchase of Bitcoin as a treasury asset, plans to issue Bitcoin-backed bonds, and a citizenship-by-investment program for foreigners who donate to the government.
While widespread adoption of Bitcoin by Salvadorans has been slower than expected, Bukele highlighted several benefits of the country’s crypto-friendly stance: “It has brought us branding, it has brought us investment, it has brought us tourism. I believe that the positives outweigh the negatives and that the issues highlighted are relatively minor.”
Despite concerns from institutions like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) about the potential risks of adopting Bitcoin, Bukele noted that these risks have not yet materialized. He emphasized that El Salvador is a “first mover” in the Bitcoin space and that the country has accumulated a significant Bitcoin reserve, estimated at around $400 million in public wallets.
Bukele expressed cautious optimism about Bitcoin's role in El Salvador's economic future, saying: “I won't say it's the currency of the future, but there's a lot of future in this currency.”
*This is not investment advice.