“El Salvador” is the smallest country in Central America. Citizens earn a living abroad and send money back home worth 22% of GDP.
Moreover, a large proportion of the population does not have access to basic financial services because “out of 30 people, only 30 have a bank account.”
The problem that arises when people far from home have to transfer money back, let's say 300 usd, only 270 to someone at home because the intermediary has already deducted 10%. As for the case of people within the country themselves If you want to borrow money or get a credit card Most can't do it. Because I don't have an account with the bank.
The historic turning point occurred when Nayib Bukele won the presidency in 2019, the biggest shift in political power in 30 years from a struggle for power between two major parties.
“Nayib Bukele” who calls himself “The coolest dictator in the world” came to change many things in the country. And one of them is pushing for a law to support Bitcoin as "currency" in order to solve two big issues: 1. The cost of transferring money because Bitcoin does not have to go through many intermediaries and 2. Access to financial services by opening a Bitcoin account.
Although the public did not all follow him, Bitcoin finally became legal currency on September 7, 2021, two years after he took office.
But not everything will go smoothly after the law is passed. There have also been attacks, such as countries going bankrupt because of losses from Bitcoin. The IMF has issued a warning that Bitcoin should not be considered a legal currency. Or some people in the country come out to protest.
However, it has been almost two and a half years since today. Although there is still no conclusion as to whether this is the right decision or not. Only time will tell, but El Salvador has certainly become a case study. Already given to many countries around the world!!
Not only this Nayib Bukele's political party also won a landslide election in early February 2024, and he announced his victory as president of El Salvador for a second consecutive term. and will continue to serve as president until 2029.
El Salvador is now the fifth-largest government entity holding Bitcoin in the world with 2,381 BTC, or 0.011% of the maximum supply of 21 million BTC.
Did you know that…the United States It is the government that holds the largest amount of Bitcoin in the world, with 207,189 BTC (obtained through confiscated assets), followed by the Chinese government with 194,000 BTC and third by the German government with 50,000 BTC.