4 ms·

It's robbery': Salvadorans slow to adopt Bitcoin

43 points by rmason 3y ago

a2tech 3y ago
No shit. Glad they’re seeing through it.
laweijfmvo 3y ago
"People don't really have confidence in a cryptocurrency whose value changes from one moment to the next, and... people prefer to use hard cash," economist Julia Martinez told AFP. Is this true? Do people really think that because the numbers on their bills can't change, their value is constant? Especially in South American, I would think people know better than to trust Bitcoin OR cash. Maybe US Dollars (relative to local currencies) seem stable, though.
- streetnoodles 3y ago
  USD is the official paper currency in El Salvador (since 2001)
- __loam 3y ago
  Bitcoin is more volatile and less convenient than most currencies. Pointing to a few exceptions doesn't change that point.
  - el-salvador 3y ago
    I'd add that Bitcoin was many Salvadoran's first experience with a currency losing 50% of its value in less than a year. Salvadorans having used the U.S. dollar for 21 years, and having a stable currency four about a hundred years in the past, had protected El Salvador from currency fluctuations that are normal in other Latin American countries.
dahwolf 3y ago
Having your savings in Bitcoin is a bad idea, especially for people that don't have much wealth the begin with. It's strange though that the remittance scenario is so little used. The idea was that dollar remittances have high fees and that this would bypass it: USD -> BTC -> send -> BTC -> USD. When done quickly neither the sender nor receiver suffer much from volatility. There must be some reason why this scenario does not work or is not attractive?
- dominojab 3y ago
  [dead]
- filoleg 3y ago
  > Having your savings in Bitcoin is a bad idea, especially for people that don't have much wealth the begin with. Don't forget a giant asterisk that this only applies if you have easy access to any relatively-stable currencies that aren't under a realistic risk of absolutely insane hyperinflation, something like USD, EUR, various asian currencies (too many to list), etc. If you have no access to those or if you are only able to obtain those at an exchange rate that is extremely overpriced, it might be the case that Bitcoin would make more sense. I know I would have my savings in Bitcoin than in Venezuelan Bolivar (given the inflation rate in 2018 alone hitting 100,000%+), if those were my only two options. Which afaik wasn't exactly the case in Venezuela, as people had black market exchanges happen and essentially preferring to take payments under the table in dollars (but the point still stands). But otherwise, I fully agree with your point. For anyone who has access to the relatively-stable currencies, keeping savings in crypto is a massive risk that seems like a very poor idea.
  - sdfghswe 3y ago
    If you're in that situation, buying USD on the black market is still better than Bitcoin. Argentina has been living like this for decades, so don't tell me this is a crazy notion. And unlike Venezuela, Argentina isn't a failed state.
    - filoleg 3y ago
      > If you're in that situation, buying USD on the black market is still better than Bitcoin Pretty much what I suspected, yeah. So it sounds like BTC would be a truly decent money storage vehicle only for the scenarios where you straight up only have a choice of a hyperinflating unstable currency and BTC (not even black market USD access). Which, I am not sure if the case anywhere. > Argentina has been living like this for decades, so don't tell me this is a crazy notion. Aye, makes sense, wasn't gonna tell you that this was a crazy notion at all. If anything, that's how it's been operating pre-crypto in a lot of places of the world for a long time, and I don't hear of crypto upending it anytime soon (outside of extremely biased pro-crypto takes that don't have much ground in reality).
pc2g4d 3y ago
"There are no figures available on how many Salvadorans have taken up Bitcoin." Doesn't this contradict the headline?
worklaptopacct 3y ago
Sad to see that the people have failed Bitcoin again. I really hope that this perfect technology will give them an another chance.

43 points by rmason 3y ago

No shit. Glad they’re seeing through it.

"People don't really have confidence in a cryptocurrency whose value changes from one moment to the next, and... people prefer to use hard cash," economist Julia Martinez told AFP. Is this true? Do people really think that because the numbers on their bills can't change, their value is constant? Especially in South American, I would think people know better than to trust Bitcoin OR cash. Maybe US Dollars (relative to local currencies) seem stable, though.

streetnoodles 3y ago
USD is the official paper currency in El Salvador (since 2001)
__loam 3y ago
Bitcoin is more volatile and less convenient than most currencies. Pointing to a few exceptions doesn't change that point.
- el-salvador 3y ago
  I'd add that Bitcoin was many Salvadoran's first experience with a currency losing 50% of its value in less than a year. Salvadorans having used the U.S. dollar for 21 years, and having a stable currency four about a hundred years in the past, had protected El Salvador from currency fluctuations that are normal in other Latin American countries.

dahwolf 3y ago

Having your savings in Bitcoin is a bad idea, especially for people that don't have much wealth the begin with. It's strange though that the remittance scenario is so little used. The idea was that dollar remittances have high fees and that this would bypass it: USD -> BTC -> send -> BTC -> USD. When done quickly neither the sender nor receiver suffer much from volatility. There must be some reason why this scenario does not work or is not attractive?

dominojab 3y ago
[dead]
filoleg 3y ago
> Having your savings in Bitcoin is a bad idea, especially for people that don't have much wealth the begin with. Don't forget a giant asterisk that this only applies if you have easy access to any relatively-stable currencies that aren't under a realistic risk of absolutely insane hyperinflation, something like USD, EUR, various asian currencies (too many to list), etc. If you have no access to those or if you are only able to obtain those at an exchange rate that is extremely overpriced, it might be the case that Bitcoin would make more sense. I know I would have my savings in Bitcoin than in Venezuelan Bolivar (given the inflation rate in 2018 alone hitting 100,000%+), if those were my only two options. Which afaik wasn't exactly the case in Venezuela, as people had black market exchanges happen and essentially preferring to take payments under the table in dollars (but the point still stands). But otherwise, I fully agree with your point. For anyone who has access to the relatively-stable currencies, keeping savings in crypto is a massive risk that seems like a very poor idea.
- sdfghswe 3y ago
  If you're in that situation, buying USD on the black market is still better than Bitcoin. Argentina has been living like this for decades, so don't tell me this is a crazy notion. And unlike Venezuela, Argentina isn't a failed state.
  - filoleg 3y ago
    > If you're in that situation, buying USD on the black market is still better than Bitcoin Pretty much what I suspected, yeah. So it sounds like BTC would be a truly decent money storage vehicle only for the scenarios where you straight up only have a choice of a hyperinflating unstable currency and BTC (not even black market USD access). Which, I am not sure if the case anywhere. > Argentina has been living like this for decades, so don't tell me this is a crazy notion. Aye, makes sense, wasn't gonna tell you that this was a crazy notion at all. If anything, that's how it's been operating pre-crypto in a lot of places of the world for a long time, and I don't hear of crypto upending it anytime soon (outside of extremely biased pro-crypto takes that don't have much ground in reality).

pc2g4d 3y ago

"There are no figures available on how many Salvadorans have taken up Bitcoin." Doesn't this contradict the headline?

worklaptopacct 3y ago

Sad to see that the people have failed Bitcoin again. I really hope that this perfect technology will give them an another chance.