El Salvador maintains Bitcoin support after election

Coin speaker
El Salvador maintains Bitcoin support after election

El Salvador’s Vice President Felix Ulloa has stated that the country will remain committed to Bitcoin after the upcoming presidential election. The vice president reaffirmed the Central American country’s stance on cryptocurrencies in an interview with Reuters on Wednesday, confirming that Bitcoin will remain legal tender after the election.

Under President Nayib Bukele, who is seeking re-election on Sunday, El Salvador became the first country in the world to recognize Bitcoin as fiat currency in 2021. This was despite warnings from the International Monetary Fund (IMF). It was seeking $1.3 billion in loans for potential risks. The IMF wrote that there are “significant risks associated with the use of Bitcoin for financial stability, financial soundness, consumer protection, and related fiscal contingent liabilities.”

Ulloa confirmed that the government has no intention of changing its stance on Bitcoin and pointed to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) recent approval of a Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) as a positive sign.

“Not only is the law upheld,” Ulloa said. “At this moment, we enjoy the highest reliability in the world.”

The vice president added that if re-elected, Bukele’s government would pursue plans to issue Bitcoin-backed bonds this quarter. He added that other plans will also be underway, such as building a Bitcoin City and issuing passports to investors who donate $1 million worth of Bitcoin.

Bukele, with Ulloa as his running mate, is expected to win the election in a landslide. Opinion polls show that 82% of voters support his re-election. This is largely due to his recent crackdown on gang violence, which has been criticized for its severity by some human rights activists.

Since the state of emergency was declared in 2022, state security forces have arrested about 75,000 suspected gang members and released 7,000. Human rights groups have reported 190 deaths and more than 5,000 abuses linked to the exercises. Under Bukele, more than 2% of the country’s adult population was reported to be incarcerated.

Citizens whose lives have been greatly affected by gangs and the violence and extortion that comes with them are very happy about the ability to move freely and conduct business without the threat of exorbitant “protection” fees.

“Why change leaders? Want to go back to the past? We’re happy we don’t have gangs. He needs the strength to continue to make change.” said Elmer Martinez, 53, a construction worker in El Salvador’s capital, San Salvador.

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El Salvador maintains Bitcoin support after election

Source: https://www.coinspeaker.com/el-salvador-bitcoin-post-election/