It's a bit over a month since the country of El Salvador has made Bitcoin legal tender, and on top of that, Nayib Bukele has even decided to buy 700 coins of the market as "a crypto national treasury". The president of El Salvador has also stated that, according to the native Chivo wallet data, Salvadorans are incentivized to become hodlers rather than instantly spending their airdropped $30 worth of BTC they got.
It's all good and nice for the crypto community that a country has made Bitcoin legal tender and that the president of the country has even decided to invest in Bitcoin, on behalf of the country, but when zooming in a bit there are some details that are actually against the crypto philosophy pillars.
The first thing that I find odd is that in order to be eligible for the airdrop, the citizens had to use the Chivo wallet and not some random wallet that anyone could download from the internet, it's like constricting the freedom of choice, and we all know crypto is about expanding and not vice versa.
Vitalik Buterin has criticized Nayib Bukele for "making it mandatory for businesses to accept a specific cryptocurrency being contrary to the ideals of freedom that are supposed to be so important to the crypto space." I totally agree on this one and although, after reading the news regarding Vitalik's reddit comments on this matter I sense a bit of slapping towards the Bitcoin maximalists from his side, the co-creator of Ethereum is right.
Education is highly important in this space and freedom of choice should be a must in a world valuing fundamental rights and freedoms such as freedom of speech. As much as I praised the president of El Salvador for investing in Bitcoin and making it legal tender and also starting a mining facility based on volcanic energy, I highly agree on this one with Vitalik, that forcing businesses to accept Bitcoin is against the ideals of freedom that are supposed to be so important to the crypto space.
He(Nayib Bukele) kind of rushed things out with Bitcoin over there... I would honestly love if in my country merchants would accept direct crypto payments, but forcing them to do that would be a disaster. Crypto without proper education can lead to loss of funds, hacks, improper management of these funds and so on.
This thing probably happens right now in El Salvador for some small businesses. For something like Starbucks it's probably not much of a hassle to handle Bitcoin aside the traditional payments, but for others it might be a burden.
"It crushes my soul to see Bitcoin maximalists around the world cheering this when, if they actually sat down and read the law and regulations, it is completely opposite to everything they preach."
-One Salvadoran business owner, requiring anonymity, for Decrypt source
I have to admit that I got too hyped about this whole El Salvador adopting Bitcoin saga without actually paying attention to the details that deter the adopting process as a whole. As much as I love crypto, nothing has been forced on me. I started blogging and earning crypto on my own will, no one has forced me to do so, I've educated myself in the same manner and holding crypto is my own consciously taken will.
Meanwhile, some small(uneducated) business owners in El Salvador are forced to accept Bitcoin as legal tender and go through some stressful times. Forceful measures is what I hate the most in the current society and it's something I don't want to see in crypto...
Thanks for attention,
Adrian
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It's really not, youare free to use whatever you like. It's just positive action to encourage this one.
I wonder if Vitalki would have similar concerns if ETH would be forced over citizens.
You're missing the point as you took that paragraph out of context.
Here you have the whole phrase:
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It's clipped indeed, but context doesn't change it. It's still positive encouragement, not discrimination, also, everybody is free to use any other app after receiving BTC to Chivo, as far as I know.
This is the first post of yours which I don't agree with your viewpoint.
BTC is plain and simple and well known for the newbies. It's just an entry point to crypto.
People will learn on the go. I find out that with an empty stomach the learning process tends to be much faster, though. Of course, they will lose some money in that process. We all did. Right?
Every education is expensive, except in socialist countries. Most of the airdrops require you to download and use some kind of wallet. Later on, you can transfer your coins wherever you like. You started with one wallet and exchange. How many do you have now?
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I like when people disagree me because it offers me perspective. You have a point here, but the idea is that Bitcoin is about freedom of choice. If I were the president I would airdrop the $30 worth of BTC on any address any individual would choose. Would still have to somehow register the airdrop so the guys won't shill too many address and get "overaidropped".
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I feel like this is a very controversial topic, on one hand forcing anything down from the centralized power position is against bitcoin ethos, on the other hand, if you are a true visionary and wishing the best for your people and your country, maybe it is the necessary evil?
You could see it from that perspective as well, but why hasn't he simply airdropped the $30 worth of BTC on any wallet a citizen would have.
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Interesting point, I suppose the power of President decisions about the treasury or budget distribution is not absolute, but I am only speculating and playing devil's advocate, actually I just saw a funny tweet "Vitalik: El Salvador mandating #Bitcoin is bad
Also Vitalik: Literally, upgrade to the newest Ethereum software or your money is deleted"
Originally posted by: @pete_rizzo_ on twitter
Obviously, but that is the same problem, what is the difference between Nayib or Vitalik if they have sole authority about something?
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It's not about a blockchain being good or bad, it's about using the technology as it has been designed to.
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Truly everything has their dark side, crypto it's something that must be implemented but people have the right to decide of using it or not, does things just make everything get worse.
agreed with you
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One point I took away from the news that El Salvador would be making Bitcoin legal tender cryptocurrency is that El Salvador would have 2 forms of legal tender money: USD for traditional transactions and Bitcoin for cryptocurrency transactions.
As for the insistence on using the Chivo wallet to qualify for the USD 30 airdrop, maybe the president is also an investor in Chivo? I have no idea, I'm only suggesting a reason for the insistence. If this is the worst thing anyone can say about the President of El Salvador, he has plenty of company.
Over time maybe the wallet situation will be more flexible and people can do more things with Bitcoin and other crypto. To get things started, it needed to be done in a controlled manner. Let's see how far El Salvador has progressed by EOY 2022.
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