Nothing will ‘stop’ BTC in El Salvador, says President after IMF, World Bank criticism
3 min readPresident Bukele said nothing can stop BTC from seeing widespread adoption in El Salvador, and he sees no scenario in which it can be stopped.
“I don’t see anything stopping it. Everything about the humans can be stopped. But I just don’t see how. It’s law, the government is working 24/7 in going to effect in 80 days,” he said in a recent podcast.
Earlier this month, the Central American nation passed a bill to recognize BTC as legal tender formally. However, as much as crypto advocates celebrated the news, the response from both the IMF and World Bank has been less encouraging.
Their reaction has led to hearsay that international pressure will stop the El Salvadorian BTC bill from happening.
How the IMF and World Bank reacted
El Salvador made history on June 8 by passing the BTC law. This gives BTC the same legal status as the country’s official currency, the U.S dollar.
In an immediate response, the IMF raised concerns that this would interfere with ongoing negotiations for a $1 billion loan.
Top El Salvadorian officials replied by saying the U.S. dollar would continue to be legal tender. In contrast, BTC transactions would be by choice and tied to the dollar exchange rate.
Weeks later, as El Salvador reached out for the technical implementation of its plans, the World Bank gave a resounding denial.
A World Bank spokesperson said they could not help due to the “environmental and transparency shortcomings” of BTC.
“While the government did approach us for assistance on BTC, this is not something the World Bank can support given the environmental and transparency shortcomings.”
Can BTC in El Salvador be stopped?
Despite the snubs from the IMF and World Bank, President Bukele is determined to press on regardless.
In an interview with the What BTC Did YouTube channel, President Bukele addressed whether the BTC law can be stopped, and in his mind, it can’t.
Speaking on the democratic process involved with passing the law, President Bukele pointed out that more than a supermajority approved the bill.
“Our Congress has 84 seats, you only need 43 to change monetary policy, which is half plus one. That’s the majority, right? When we have supermajority here, you need two-thirds, which would be 56 out of 84. We got 63 votes.
With that, plans are in place to build the BTC infrastructure in El Salvador, including renewable energy mining and legislation to encourage the country’s development as a hub for crypto developers and companies.
President Bukele added that the plans include things to “protect the decision,” but gave no specifics on what that means.
“Remember BTC works by itself, so it’s not like it depends on what we do. But of course, the things that we are doing, will, you know, it will protect the decision, and guarantee that there will be more benefits for the people.”
Short of an invasion by hostile forces, it looks as though the BTC bill will be happening in El Salvador.
Commenting directly on the IMF and World Bank snubs, President Bukele said it makes no sense and that he has no intention of getting into a fight with them. He added that it’s their choice, but it still doesn’t change El Salvador’s plans with BTC.
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