El Salvador's President Bukele: Bitcoin Adoption Slower Than Expected
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, known for his fervent advocacy of Bitcoin, has acknowledged that his ambitious experiment with the cryptocurrency has not unfolded as he had hoped.
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele, known for his fervent advocacy of Bitcoin, has acknowledged that his ambitious experiment with the cryptocurrency has not unfolded as he had hoped. In an interview with TIME magazine published Thursday, Bukele, who once dubbed himself the "world’s coolest dictator," conceded that Bitcoin's adoption in the small Central American nation has been slower than anticipated.
In 2021, Bukele made headlines by declaring Bitcoin as legal tender in El Salvador, alongside the U.S. dollar. This groundbreaking policy required businesses to accept Bitcoin if they had the technological means to do so. Bukele also began purchasing Bitcoin to add to the government’s balance sheet, a move that garnered both praise from crypto enthusiasts and criticism from international bodies like the IMF and U.S. politicians
