Can bitcoin be a national currency? El Salvador is trying to find out

livemint.com:

SAN SALVADOR (EL SALVADOR) : President Nayib Bukele called Canadian videogame developer and bitcoin enthusiast Samson Mow up on stage at a beachside bitcoin convention in November that had the flair of a rock concert.

In front of a screen emblazoned with the phrase “Feel the Bit," Mr. Mow unveiled the tiny Central American country’s novel international finance idea: a plan to raise $1 billion by issuing the world’s first bitcoin-backed sovereign bond. The crowd, a mix of mostly crypto advocates, Bukele fans and a few curious locals, erupted in loud cheers as they filmed the event on their smartphones.

“Bitcoin is going to change the world," Mr. Bukele, dressed in all white, said at the event. “It’s the evolution of humankind, and we’re going there."

In less than three years in office, Mr. Bukele has moved fast to remake his country. He has removed judges and stacked the courts with his supporters, harassed journalists reporting on corruption and clashed with the Biden administration over Mr. Bukele’s efforts to cement power. Wearing leather jackets, aviator shades and a backward baseball cap, he has reveled in the political skirmishes, jokingly referring to himself as “the coolest dictator."

The 40-year-old president is perhaps best known for turning El Salvador into a real life laboratory for bitcoin, providing enthusiasts and skeptics alike with a test case to see how far crypto can go beyond its current status as a popular speculative investment and unregulated means of exchange. In September, El Salvador became the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender, forcing local merchants to accept it as payment.

The country is aiming to cash in on the crypto craze by tapping new markets to borrow and using profits