El Salvador: How it started vs. how it’s going with the Bitcoin Law in 2021
Before June 2021, news regarding Nayib Bukele was likely not even a blip on many crypto users’ radar screens. The Salvadoran president instead made headlines for allegations of corruption and dictator-like behavior after his party’s congressional majority sacked five members of the country’s Supreme Court and its attorney general.
During the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami, however, Bukele stunned many participants and garnered international attention by announcing he planned to have El Salvador adopt Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender. Within a week, a supermajority of the Salvadoran Legislative Assembly — most members of Bukele’s own party — had passed the Bitcoin Law, requiring all businesses to accept the crypto asset as a form of payment alongside the United States dollar.
Bukele’s involvement in the crypto rollout seemed to extend further than many would have expected from a world leader. The El Salvador president was already active on social media and presented himself differently than many politicians, often casually dressed in a baseball cap and jeans. Since the Bitcoin Law went into effect in September, he has used his Twitter account to announce several BTC buys totaling 1,391 BTC — more than $71 million, presumably from El Salvador’s national treasury. He also proposed having the country tap geothermal energy from its volcanoes to mine crypto.
Locally, opposition to the Bitcoin Law manifested itself in the form of public statements from lawmakers not connected to Bukele’s political party as well as protests in San Salvador. Before the law went into effect on Sept. 7, a group of retirees, veterans, disability pensioners and workers marched through the capital city to voice their concerns about the crypto asset’s
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