In an article for Bitcoin Magazine, he rejected criticisms that elevating BTC to the same status as the U.S. dollar was a "dumb move" or a "gamble."
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Nayib Bukele has defended El Salvador's decision to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender ― describing it as "the only obvious move."
In an article for Bitcoin Magazine, he rejected criticisms that elevating BTC to the same status as the U.S. dollar was a "dumb move" or a "gamble." He wrote:
"For those who understand, the real question is not if other countries are going to adopt Bitcoin, but when."
The president surprised the world when he announced the Central American nation's new policy at the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami.
Just three months later, the Bitcoin Law came into force ― sparking protests on the streets and condemnation from the International Monetary Fund.
Although El Salvador has purchased thousands of Bitcoins over the past 12 months, this investment is now heavily underwater because of the bear market.
Striking a defiant tone, Bukele argued that those pushing his country to reverse the Bitcoin Law "are the world's most powerful elites." He claimed:
"They used to own everything, and in a way they still do; the media, the banks, the NGOs, the international organizations, and almost all the governments and corporations in the world. And with that, of course, they also own the armies, the loans, the money supply, the credit ratings, the narrative, the propaganda, the factories, the food supply; they control international trade and international law."
The president rejected suggestions that El Salvador has lost $50 million because of its exposure to Bitcoin because the country has no intention of selling. Bukele claimed that this amounts to just 0.2% of GDP, meaning there's no prospect of it destroying the economy.
Bukele went on to attack mainstream media outlets for publishing "nonsense" about his policies ― and insisted that El Salvador is not heading for default.
He also boasted that his presidential approval rating, which sits at between 85% and 90%, is far higher than the scores that leaders in other countries get.
Addressing critics directly, Bukele encouraged them to visit El Salvador, writing:
"My message to you is this: stop drinking the elites' Kool-Aid and take a look at the facts… see how one of the poorest nations in the continent and the previous murder capital of the world is changing to rapidly become the best place it can be."
He also encouraged skeptics to take a moment and reflect on why "the world's most powerful forces" are against El Salvador's Bitcoin Law.
"El Salvador is the epicenter of Bitcoin adoption, and thus, economic freedom, financial sovereignty, censorship resistance, unconfiscatable wealth, and the end of the kingmakers, their printing, devaluating, and reassigning the wealth of the majorities to interests groups, the elites, the oligarchs, and the ones in the shadows behind them, pulling their strings."
Bukele went on to predict that other countries will follow in El Salvador's footsteps if his policy succeeds ― and that he refuses to fail because this means other nations won't adopt Bitcoin. He finished by asking:
"They know this very well and that’s why they are fighting us so hard. Will you play their game? Or will you become aware of the real game?"
Despite his bullish, defiant stance, Bitcoin isn't being widely used by El Salvador's consumers and businesses.
And while the public approve of Bukele's crackdown on gangs, the Bitcoin Law doesn't tend to perform as strongly in opinion polls.
The president recently declared that he plans to run for a second term ― despite this being prohibited in El Salvador's constitution.
Last year, all five judges in the Supreme Court were ousted and replaced by Bukele's own appointees. They subsequently ruled that he could seek re-election, attracting condemnation from the U.S.
