Salvadorans Say BTC Law Has Not Benefited Family Economy
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In September 2021, El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt BTC as legal tender. However, about nine months after the BTC Law was implemented, Salvadorans say they have not seen many practical changes.
A recent report revealed that 71.1% of the country’s population feel that the BTC Act has not benefited their household economy.
The survey in question was carried out by the University Institute of Public Opinion of the Central American University José Simeón Cañas. The Salvadoran entity published the results of the survey at Thursday (2).
According to the document, only 6.1% of El Salvador’s citizens believe their household economy has improved since the passage of the BTC Act. Meanwhile, the remaining 22.8% believe BTC has benefited in parts.
For the study, the institution interviewed a sample of 1,275 people. The purpose of the survey was to analyze the public opinion of citizens about the government of Nayib Bukele.
Salvadorans dissatisfied with BTC
The survey results come at a difficult time for BTC. The biggest cryptocurrency on the market is on course to close its tenth consecutive week of lows.
BTC has struggled for months to stay above $30,000, a far cry from the nearly $69,000 recorded in November last year.
Based on this, Salvadorans are avoiding holding their funds in BTC. After all, they fear the digital currency will recede further.
To the local portal La Nación, merchant José Fredy Landaverde revealed that when the customer pays in BTC, he converts the value to dollars immediately to avoid the devaluation of the money.
However, José guaranteed that when BTC goes up again, he will do the opposite.
BTC Bear Delays BTC Bonds
The decline in BTC also affected the Salvadoran government. Today, the country’s public coffers are estimated to hold 2,301 BTC.
And, according to Bloomberg estimates, government BTC holdings have dropped by $40 million due to the decline.
Bukele made his last purchase of Bitcoins in May. On that occasion, he acquired another 500 BTC.
Furthermore, the decline in digital currency is also likely behind the delays in the launch of BTC Bonds, BTC bonds that the government plans to issue.
The launch was scheduled for March this year, but has not yet taken place.
Carlos Acevedo, former head of the Central Bank of El Salvador, said:
“It is risky because it is an extremely volatile asset and it is an investment that is entirely at the discretion of the president. You buy on your cell phone when you want to enjoy the fall. But it doesn’t do it right because when you buy there’s always a bigger drop.”
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