El Salvador President: Bitcoin Has Not Yet Reached the Widespread Adoption We Expect

BlockBeats News, August 30, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele In an interview with Time magazine, he said, "Bitcoin has not yet achieved the widespread adoption we expected. Many Salvadorans use it, and most of the big businesses in El Salvador accept it. You can pay with Bitcoin at McDonald's, supermarkets or hotels. But it has not achieved the level of adoption we expected. The positive thing is that it is voluntary; we have never forced anyone to adopt it. We made it an option, and those who chose to use it have benefited from the rise of Bitcoin."

Also, those who saved Bitcoin when we launched it must have made a lot of money. That's good, everyone has these gains. Those who decided not to use Bitcoin did not get these benefits. If they use it now, there may be benefits in the future. If they don't want to use it, this is a free country. I do expect more adoption, but we have always prided ourselves on being a free country in all aspects.

The same thing with Bitcoin. For me, it is an option we offer to Salvadorans. I won't say it is the currency of the future, but this currency has a bright future. I'm not the only one who says this. I was not one of the first, but in 2021 2000, we had a small number of people. Now the largest funds in the world, literally the largest funds in the world, are involved. BlackRock has the largest Bitcoin ETF.

El Salvador invested $135 million. Now we have $400 million in Bitcoin in the public wallet alone. We are doing very well as a government. Those in El Salvador who use Bitcoin and store it, obviously because of the price increase, are doing very well. Those who don't use it are not obliged to use it. The most widely used currency in El Salvador is still the US dollar.

I feel like this could have worked better and there is time to make some improvements, but it has not had any negative impact. On the contrary, it has brought us brand awareness, investment and tourism."