The US “advises” El Salvador not to use Bitcoin
From the very beginning, the discussions regarding Bitcoin have been very polarized. Some believe that this completely changes the rules of the game, while others focus on its shortcomings and do not hesitate to criticize the world’s largest cryptocurrency. Despite the fact that over the years this asset has demonstrated a significant increase in the overall level of acceptance and a sharp jump in acceptance rates, there are undoubtedly still some unresolved problems associated with it.
Take, for example, the case of regulation. While some see regulation as the ultimate goal, others shudder at the idea, believing that cryptocurrencies should not be hindered by regulatory measures, especially given that it was originally designed to circumvent obstacles created by governments and large multinational corporations. Earlier this month, El Salvador announced that it had signed a new law that considers the use of Bitcoin as a legal means of payment.
While several countries, various individuals and interested groups congratulated the Central American country on its bold step, the United States of America was not particularly happy about the latest event. US officials are not entirely happy with the situation, especially because they previously advised the President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukela, to be careful with the use of crypto assets, which are now one of their legitimate tenders.
The official representative of the US Department of Commerce, Victoria Nuland, said that Bukele was forced to ensure that appropriate security measures were taken before the legalization of BTC took effect. According to Nuland, the government of El Salvador should do everything in its power to ensure that the use of the digital asset throughout the country is regulated, which would limit its use by attackers for illegal activities. She also noted that the country needs to ensure full transparency of activities related to the digital asset, which will help protect well-meaning citizens from potential problems such as hacking and fraud.
Collisions of the global financial arena
The US Government remains skeptical about digital assets
El Salvador currently uses the US dollar as its main fiat currency after its national currency, the colon, was abolished in 2001 following the entry into force of a new monetary law. Now that BTC is used as a legal means of payment along with fiat currencies, the legality of the digital asset in the country brings an interesting twist to the global financial arena.
In contrast to El Salvador’s views on BTC and digital assets, the United States holds a more conservative point of view. The authorities of the United States and its regulatory authorities have for many years repeated relatively well-known negative factors as reasons against the wider use of cryptocurrencies. The negative impact of mining digital assets on the environment, the use of crypto assets to finance terrorist activities, as well as various concerns related to fraud and hacking are the main negative aspects that the current and previous US administrations use as arguments for harassment.
It can also be argued that the US government is somewhat wary of the potential of BTC, which over time may prove detrimental to the dominance of their dollar, lowering its hierarchy when it comes to the world’s strongest currencies. It is obvious that El Salvador takes a different approach compared to Washington regarding the use of crypto assets, mainly due to internal political factors and the country’s position on the world stage.