4 ms·

BTC is official in El Salvador.

by djbusby 4y ago

iostream24 4y ago
And Bukele has locked up more than 2% of the population in inhumane conditions… Hardly a promotional asset…
- el-salvador 4y ago
  2% of the total population. It must be higher when other variables are added to the calculation. - The % of male population imprisoned. My guesstimate is 4%. - The % of male population between 18 and 29 y/o imprisoned I don’t have the raw data to calculate it at this moment. But it must be higher once gender / age / income are considered.
grey-area 4y ago
https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/06/el-salvador-president-bukele-human-rights-crisis/ https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/06/el-salvador-p... https://www.cato.org/commentary/el-salvadors-road-currency-chaos-economic-collapse https://www.cato.org/commentary/el-salvadors-road-currency-c... https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/crypto-crash-leaves-el-salvador-with-no-easy-exit-worsening-crisis-2022-05-19/ https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/crypto-crash-leaves-e... President Bukele’s government declared a state of emergency on 27 March, following a spike in homicides allegedly committed by gangs, which has since been extended twice....Despite a drop in the homicide rate in recent years, El Salvador continues to be one of the most violent countries in the world....The government's financial problems are not because of bitcoin, but they have gotten worse because of bitcoin. QED
- rscnt 4y ago
  The president doesn't care about the issues that concern his position. There was an intiative by the treasury to try and have people use a single document to deal with taxes, where we previously used two, this is something important for most people, the guy hasn't even mentioned on his social networks. They also build a public vet that was supposedly financed with the earnings of BTC - when the price dropped the president mentioned that he hasn't sold any meaning all the money spent to promoto chivo or crypto has come from our tax dollars.
  - deleted 4y ago
    [deleted]
rscnt 4y ago
Most people in my circle that pay taxes and hold crypto disapprove this. People are overall indifferent or disappointed with the decision. We don't know who or whom holds the BTC that was bought with tax money. It just takes a couple day of rain to have the capital flooded and our president is busy talking about crypto. Web services build by the government are a disaster, can't handle a decent volume of requests or are simply too buggy. With our taxes we've financed "chivo", the entire thing has been a disaster they spent an awful amount of dollars to have basically nobody use it. Not even crypto bros use the chivo apps, most transactions can be attributed to people doing "scalping".
- BoorishBears 4y ago
  It's great to see a perspective from the ground on this. I'm originally from an "emerging market" (aka 3rd world country) and I don't share the enthusiasm crypto bros do about emerging markets interacting with crypto. It's rarely from a beneficial place. Crypto is absolutely perfect to allow a corrupt government to quietly siphon the nation. No planes full of dollar bills, no heavy gold bricks. Just a movement from one digital address to another. Sure in a pinch it might be a lifeline, but it's a flimsy lifeline and these countries need a lot more than a glorified remittance system to recover. It's fun to laugh at NFT bros trying to buy overpriced restaurant food, but last few months have likely been disastrous for a lot of very poor people.

BTC is official in El Salvador.

iostream24 4y ago

And Bukele has locked up more than 2% of the population in inhumane conditions… Hardly a promotional asset…

el-salvador 4y ago
2% of the total population. It must be higher when other variables are added to the calculation. - The % of male population imprisoned. My guesstimate is 4%. - The % of male population between 18 and 29 y/o imprisoned I don’t have the raw data to calculate it at this moment. But it must be higher once gender / age / income are considered.

grey-area 4y ago

https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/06/el-salvador-president-bukele-human-rights-crisis/ https://www.amnesty.org/en/latest/news/2022/06/el-salvador-p... https://www.cato.org/commentary/el-salvadors-road-currency-chaos-economic-collapse https://www.cato.org/commentary/el-salvadors-road-currency-c... https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/crypto-crash-leaves-el-salvador-with-no-easy-exit-worsening-crisis-2022-05-19/ https://www.reuters.com/markets/europe/crypto-crash-leaves-e... President Bukele’s government declared a state of emergency on 27 March, following a spike in homicides allegedly committed by gangs, which has since been extended twice....Despite a drop in the homicide rate in recent years, El Salvador continues to be one of the most violent countries in the world....The government's financial problems are not because of bitcoin, but they have gotten worse because of bitcoin. QED

rscnt 4y ago
The president doesn't care about the issues that concern his position. There was an intiative by the treasury to try and have people use a single document to deal with taxes, where we previously used two, this is something important for most people, the guy hasn't even mentioned on his social networks. They also build a public vet that was supposedly financed with the earnings of BTC - when the price dropped the president mentioned that he hasn't sold any meaning all the money spent to promoto chivo or crypto has come from our tax dollars.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]

rscnt 4y ago

Most people in my circle that pay taxes and hold crypto disapprove this. People are overall indifferent or disappointed with the decision. We don't know who or whom holds the BTC that was bought with tax money. It just takes a couple day of rain to have the capital flooded and our president is busy talking about crypto. Web services build by the government are a disaster, can't handle a decent volume of requests or are simply too buggy. With our taxes we've financed "chivo", the entire thing has been a disaster they spent an awful amount of dollars to have basically nobody use it. Not even crypto bros use the chivo apps, most transactions can be attributed to people doing "scalping".

BoorishBears 4y ago
It's great to see a perspective from the ground on this. I'm originally from an "emerging market" (aka 3rd world country) and I don't share the enthusiasm crypto bros do about emerging markets interacting with crypto. It's rarely from a beneficial place. Crypto is absolutely perfect to allow a corrupt government to quietly siphon the nation. No planes full of dollar bills, no heavy gold bricks. Just a movement from one digital address to another. Sure in a pinch it might be a lifeline, but it's a flimsy lifeline and these countries need a lot more than a glorified remittance system to recover. It's fun to laugh at NFT bros trying to buy overpriced restaurant food, but last few months have likely been disastrous for a lot of very poor people.