5 ms·

Bitcoin isn't the lone currency in the country and the dollar is still widely used there. Expect more of this as the president of El Salvador has invited the i

by throwaway20875 5y ago

Bitcoin isn't the lone currency in the country and the dollar is still widely used there. Expect more of this as the president of El Salvador has invited the ire of the US government by exposing the US's involvement in corruption in his country: https://twitter.com/nayibbukele/status/1469045510442864642 https://twitter.com/nayibbukele/status/1469045510442864642 The media is about to go full court press on this guy, BTC is just one angle they'll use.

KarlKemp 5y ago
This is like that complaint of Brexiteers, that the European Union, which they wanted to be oh-so-independent of, isn’t giving them the deal they had promised. The whole premise was that Bitcoin would allow El Sal to free itself from under the power of the US($). I can’t even tell if you consider that effort to be successful or not. But considering the average American probably thinks ‘El Salvador’ was the guy Scorcese used to get his coke from, I doubt any theories of “the media” having anything to gain from conspiring against the country.
- throwaway20875 5y ago
  >I doubt any theories of “the media” having anything to gain from conspiring against the country Aside from your sweeping and snide remarks on Americans, this is a woefully naive take. The US derives a lot of its power through the global monetary system. It can essentially isolate an entire country from large segments of global trade by simply sanctioning it (severing SWIFT transactions and threatening any banks with loss of settlement/SWIFT access/penalties for dealing with the country). Most of global trade is settled in dollars and a lot of reserves are held in dollars. The US exports dollars. The US takes advantage of those circumstances for its own benefit and seeks to preserve this system. BTC doesn't really pose a threat (not enough of it, slow throughput, too volatile). Further, the US has a long history of interfering in South America (United Fruit, for example). Or: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_involvement_in_regime_change_in_Latin_America https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_involvement_in_r... Bottom line: There is clear incentives for the US to have its way in El Salvador and elsewhere. There is also a clear track record of the US doing anything it can, legal or illegal, to achieve its desired outcomes in South America. Leveraging a largely US based mega-corporate-owned media to assist in those endeavors is only natural (and blithely dismissed by midwits like yourself). The president of El Salvador has disrespected the empire, so El Salvador delenda est.
  - KarlKemp 5y ago
    The snide remarks against Americans are essential for my point; Even if the media had those interests and ability to coordinate, their efforts are directed at an audience, and that audience needs to care for anything further to happen. And unless you find oil or Muslims in El Sal, they don’t and won’t.
  - ABeeSea 5y ago
    Aside from your sweeping and snide remarks on journalists, this is a woefully naive take.
  - JKCalhoun 5y ago
    I'm not doubting your point that the U.S. has both the incentive and track record to interfere with El Salvador. How do you back up your suggestion that the media is being controlled by U.S. interests, that there is collusion on the part of the media and U.S. government?
    - throwaway20875 5y ago
      There are clear conflicts of interests between an independent press and the press being owned by large corporate entities. Aside from that, note the revolving door and cozy relationship between the intelligence arm of the government and media: William Brennan - CIA to MSNBC James Clapper - NSA to CNN Michael Hayden - NSA to CNN Asha Rangappa - FBI to CNN Chuck Rosenberg - DEA to MSNBC The above are just a few, and clearly a new flavor of the military/intelligence industrial complex. Then consider that the Washington Post is owned by an individual that has also competed for billions of CIA and NSO business (going back many years before 2020): https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/cia-awards-multibillion-c2e-cloud-contract-aws-microsoft-google-oracle-and-ibm/ https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/cia-awards-multib... Or consider the overt yellow journalism that was used to justify invasion of Iraq in 2003 - the New York Times was one of the most culpable outlets: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_coverage_of_the_Iraq_War#Criticisms_of_pro-invasion_bias https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_coverage_of_the_Iraq_War...
      - 5y ago
jessaustin 5y ago
Those who control the output of popular media firms are suddenly really nervous about Latin America in general. The right-wing coups in Bolivia and Brazil have failed, the ones planned in Venezuela never got off the ground, NED electoral interference in recent elections throughout the region didn't work, OAS is replaced by CELAC, the Chinese are preparing to dig an "inter-ocean canal" through Nicaragua, etc. Billionaires are nervous, so turn up the skepticism on anything produced by billionaire mouthpieces.
lalaland1125 5y ago
This is pure deflection. The use of BTC in El Salvador is a joke. Comments about whatever US corruption don't change that.
- el-salvador 5y ago
  Many large retailers are accepting Bitcoin here in El Salvador using the Lightning Network or Chivo. What I've seen is that those who recently bought Bitcoin, didn't want to spend their Bitcoin if they had USD. At least last month, when Bitcoin price was going up, they preferred to spend USD instead of Bitcoin.
  - tata71 5y ago
    Ding ding ding. Can't believe this is the issue that shows me the HN bubble I've heard so much about, but seemed impossible
- tata71 5y ago
  So is Bank of America misinformed, or are you? "El Salvador’s Bitcoin experiment has been a relative success to date – the country became the first in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender; a larger proportion of the population has a Chivo digital asset wallet than a bank account"
BongoMcCat 5y ago
So, you think it is about the US... Let me guess, you are from the US...

KarlKemp 5y ago

This is like that complaint of Brexiteers, that the European Union, which they wanted to be oh-so-independent of, isn’t giving them the deal they had promised. The whole premise was that Bitcoin would allow El Sal to free itself from under the power of the US($). I can’t even tell if you consider that effort to be successful or not. But considering the average American probably thinks ‘El Salvador’ was the guy Scorcese used to get his coke from, I doubt any theories of “the media” having anything to gain from conspiring against the country.

throwaway20875 5y ago
>I doubt any theories of “the media” having anything to gain from conspiring against the country Aside from your sweeping and snide remarks on Americans, this is a woefully naive take. The US derives a lot of its power through the global monetary system. It can essentially isolate an entire country from large segments of global trade by simply sanctioning it (severing SWIFT transactions and threatening any banks with loss of settlement/SWIFT access/penalties for dealing with the country). Most of global trade is settled in dollars and a lot of reserves are held in dollars. The US exports dollars. The US takes advantage of those circumstances for its own benefit and seeks to preserve this system. BTC doesn't really pose a threat (not enough of it, slow throughput, too volatile). Further, the US has a long history of interfering in South America (United Fruit, for example). Or: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_involvement_in_regime_change_in_Latin_America https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_involvement_in_r... Bottom line: There is clear incentives for the US to have its way in El Salvador and elsewhere. There is also a clear track record of the US doing anything it can, legal or illegal, to achieve its desired outcomes in South America. Leveraging a largely US based mega-corporate-owned media to assist in those endeavors is only natural (and blithely dismissed by midwits like yourself). The president of El Salvador has disrespected the empire, so El Salvador delenda est.
- KarlKemp 5y ago
  The snide remarks against Americans are essential for my point; Even if the media had those interests and ability to coordinate, their efforts are directed at an audience, and that audience needs to care for anything further to happen. And unless you find oil or Muslims in El Sal, they don’t and won’t.
- ABeeSea 5y ago
  Aside from your sweeping and snide remarks on journalists, this is a woefully naive take.
- JKCalhoun 5y ago
  I'm not doubting your point that the U.S. has both the incentive and track record to interfere with El Salvador. How do you back up your suggestion that the media is being controlled by U.S. interests, that there is collusion on the part of the media and U.S. government?
  - throwaway20875 5y ago
    There are clear conflicts of interests between an independent press and the press being owned by large corporate entities. Aside from that, note the revolving door and cozy relationship between the intelligence arm of the government and media: William Brennan - CIA to MSNBC James Clapper - NSA to CNN Michael Hayden - NSA to CNN Asha Rangappa - FBI to CNN Chuck Rosenberg - DEA to MSNBC The above are just a few, and clearly a new flavor of the military/intelligence industrial complex. Then consider that the Washington Post is owned by an individual that has also competed for billions of CIA and NSO business (going back many years before 2020): https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/cia-awards-multibillion-c2e-cloud-contract-aws-microsoft-google-oracle-and-ibm/ https://www.datacenterdynamics.com/en/news/cia-awards-multib... Or consider the overt yellow journalism that was used to justify invasion of Iraq in 2003 - the New York Times was one of the most culpable outlets: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_coverage_of_the_Iraq_War#Criticisms_of_pro-invasion_bias https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Media_coverage_of_the_Iraq_War...
    - 5y ago

jessaustin 5y ago

Those who control the output of popular media firms are suddenly really nervous about Latin America in general. The right-wing coups in Bolivia and Brazil have failed, the ones planned in Venezuela never got off the ground, NED electoral interference in recent elections throughout the region didn't work, OAS is replaced by CELAC, the Chinese are preparing to dig an "inter-ocean canal" through Nicaragua, etc. Billionaires are nervous, so turn up the skepticism on anything produced by billionaire mouthpieces.

lalaland1125 5y ago

This is pure deflection. The use of BTC in El Salvador is a joke. Comments about whatever US corruption don't change that.

el-salvador 5y ago
Many large retailers are accepting Bitcoin here in El Salvador using the Lightning Network or Chivo. What I've seen is that those who recently bought Bitcoin, didn't want to spend their Bitcoin if they had USD. At least last month, when Bitcoin price was going up, they preferred to spend USD instead of Bitcoin.
- tata71 5y ago
  Ding ding ding. Can't believe this is the issue that shows me the HN bubble I've heard so much about, but seemed impossible
tata71 5y ago
So is Bank of America misinformed, or are you? "El Salvador’s Bitcoin experiment has been a relative success to date – the country became the first in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender; a larger proportion of the population has a Chivo digital asset wallet than a bank account"

BongoMcCat 5y ago

So, you think it is about the US... Let me guess, you are from the US...