El Salvador President: Bitcoin Not as Widely Adopted as He Had Expected
In an interview with TIME, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele admitted that Bitcoin has not been widely adopted by the people, but the coin has still brought significant benefits to the country.
In an interview with TIME magazine on August 29, President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador frankly admitted that although Bitcoin has brought significant benefits to the small Central American country, the level of adoption among the people has not yet reached his expectations.
He said in the interview:
"Bitcoin has not been as widely adopted as we had hoped. I believe that Bitcoin has the potential to work better and there is still time to make the necessary changes that are needed."
Although the number of people using Bitcoin is lower than expected, the President emphasized that Bitcoin adoption is entirely voluntary. He shared:
"We have never forced anyone to use Bitcoin. El Salvador has always prided itself on being a free country in every way."
While El Salvador’s Bitcoin strategy did not immediately achieve widespread adoption, Bukele remains optimistic about the country’s future in the space. He noted that those who opted to use Bitcoin early on have reaped significant profits as the price of Bitcoin has rebounded to near record highs. “Those who saved in Bitcoin have likely made a significant profit,” Bukele said.
Since El Salvador’s historic September 7, 2021, when the country became the first in the world to recognize Bitcoin as legal tender, El Salvador has been reaping benefits on multiple fronts. Positioning itself as a Bitcoin-friendly nation has helped El Salvador attract global attention. Bukele enthused:
“Bitcoin has helped us build our own brand for the country, attract investment, and boost tourism. The positives of the coin far outweigh the negatives and the issues mentioned are not really that significant."
Finally, Bukele asserts that there is still time to improve and optimize Bitcoin adoption in El Salvador. The government has launched several Bitcoin-related initiatives in recent years, including a plan to issue bonds backed by domestically mined BTC and a “visa-free” program for global citizens who agree to invest $1 million in the country.
At the time of writing, El Salvador currently holds 5,857.76 BTC, worth $348.2 million, in public wallets. With a steady cost averaging strategy, the Central American country’s Bitcoin portfolio is up nearly 35%, or $46 million.
The significant returns from Bitcoin investments, coupled with a series of policies that effectively control the country’s half-century-long terrorism problem, have helped Nayib Bukele won a landslide victory in the February elections, securing another five-year term.
Shortly after his re-election, Nayib Bukele successfully secured a $1.62 billion investment from Turkish holding company Yilport in two national ports, marking the largest private investment in El Salvador's history. The investment not only strengthened the economy but also brought the dream of a "Bitcoin City" closer to reality than ever before. Bitcoin City, first proposed in November 2021, is envisioned as a tax-free city based on the potential of Bitcoin mining using volcanic energy. By May 2022, President Bukele had officially introduced the potential architectural model of this city
