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Bitcoin Failed in El Salvador. The President Says the Answer Is More Bitcoin

foreignpolicy.com

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Re: Bitcoin Failed in El Salvador. The President Says the Answer Is More Bitcoin

#51

Post by paulgb »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #38
deadalus wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

David Gerard has an anti-crypto agenda and is a regular on r/buttcoin. He has publicly trashed crypto multiple times. [0] https://old.reddit.com/r/Buttcoin/comments/nwblbp/podcast_pr... [1] https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2021/0611/In-El-Salvador-... [2] http://blocktribune.com/david-gerard-can-get-long-way-just-b... [3] https://old.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/6dkc8w/why_do_we_...

Agenda? Hit-piece? Are people allowed to have opinions any more, allowed to draw conclusions and take a side? As if Albert Einstein authored anti-quantum hit-pieces, had a classical physics agenda (or choose any other contentious issue in history where people had divided opinions).

It's a reflex I see a lot when crypto comes up. Instead of refuting any claims of the article (which almost nobody in these comments has attempted to do!), any negative commentary on crypto is dismissed as the self-preservation attempts of doomed globalist elites or bitter people who missed the boat.

If only people applied the same media criticism to crypto trade publications, which are awash in conflicts of interest.

Re: Bitcoin Failed in El Salvador. The President Says the Answer Is More Bitcoin

#52

Post by k__ »

josefrichter wrote: post #10

Why does he insist on Bitcoin? Their biggest use cases are 1. incoming USD payments from relatives in the States and 2. Retail USD transactions. BTC is really bad for both of these. Why not stablecoins on some cheaper chain?

I think the focus on BTC is a bad thing too. But I also don't think stable coins only are the way.

The new economy needs a mix of both.

Re: Bitcoin Failed in El Salvador. The President Says the Answer Is More Bitcoin

#53

Post by smt88 »

gjsman-1000 wrote: post #43
eqmvii wrote: post #26

I’m exhausted by cryptocurrency. There’s a kernel of neat tech innovation and a reasonable argument about monetary policy obliterated by an avalanche of greed, hype, fraud, and magical thinking.

I remember being shocked that my uncle was doing NFT trading and buying and selling digital land in the metaverse over Thanksgiving (though not his primary job). I thought I was an early adopter for having 1.4 ETH.

Your uncle is gambling, just like every day-trader on the traditional stock market before crypto was ever invented.

Re: Bitcoin Failed in El Salvador. The President Says the Answer Is More Bitcoin

#54

Post by xiphias2 »

lalaland1125 wrote: post #35
thepasswordis wrote: post #32

This article is weird. It doesn’t seem to explain why bitcoin “failed”, just seems to suggest that El Salvador is not yet an economic paradise after 8 months. I like what this guy is doing. Sure it could fail. But obviously the SOP has already failed. Good for him and good for the people of El Salvador.

From the article: > More than 91 percent of Salvadorans want dollars, not bitcoins. The official Chivo payment system was unreliable at launch in September—the kiss of death for a new system. Users joined for the $30 signup bonus, spent it or cashed it out, then didn’t use Chivo again.

9% adoption rate in 2 months for something optional is amazing. It takes time for people to learn to use it, as it's very different from the traditional banking system.

Re: Bitcoin Failed in El Salvador. The President Says the Answer Is More Bitcoin

#55

Post by smt88 »

jes wrote: post #40
eqmvii wrote: post #26

I’m exhausted by cryptocurrency. There’s a kernel of neat tech innovation and a reasonable argument about monetary policy obliterated by an avalanche of greed, hype, fraud, and magical thinking.

With respect, do you see currencies just consed up out of thin air as free of the avalanche of negatives you mentioned?

No crypto asset is currency or will be currency. They're tradable assets, not unlike Beanie Babies.

And I don't see fiat that way because:

1. I use if every day. It's widely usable as currency, it's inflationary, and its value doesn't fluctuate wildly.

2. Fiat only ever promised to fix the problems with gold, and it did that (in the US and Europe at least). It didn't ride a wave of hype that it couldn't live up to.

3. No one's hobby is talking about fiat. They don't harass me when I say I don't think it's interesting. They don't talk about the world falling apart and fiat plucking us from the ashes.

Re: Bitcoin Failed in El Salvador. The President Says the Answer Is More Bitcoin

#56

Post by bobcostas55 »

NicoJuicy wrote: post #28
howdydoo wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The author is also the author of the book "Attack of the 50 Foot Blockchain". It seems more like a hit piece than a news article.

While David Gerard has been very critical of El Salvador ( and mostly Bukele), he is giving information/insights about it, that you won't see elsewhere. I wouldn't dismiss it as a hit piece. He's obviously spending a lot of time researching what's happening in El Salvador with the Chivo wallet. As far as i checked/found, all the information he gave, is factually correct. But yes, he is very critical of the usage of C…

Is this the same Gerard who has a bizarre hatred for Scott Alexander and harasses anyone on twitter who talks about him?

Re: Bitcoin Failed in El Salvador. The President Says the Answer Is More Bitcoin

#59

Post by howdydoo »

JKCalhoun wrote: post #38
deadalus wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

David Gerard has an anti-crypto agenda and is a regular on r/buttcoin. He has publicly trashed crypto multiple times. [0] https://old.reddit.com/r/Buttcoin/comments/nwblbp/podcast_pr... [1] https://www.csmonitor.com/Business/2021/0611/In-El-Salvador-... [2] http://blocktribune.com/david-gerard-can-get-long-way-just-b... [3] https://old.reddit.com/r/ethereum/comments/6dkc8w/why_do_we_...

Agenda? Hit-piece? Are people allowed to have opinions any more, allowed to draw conclusions and take a side? As if Albert Einstein authored anti-quantum hit-pieces, had a classical physics agenda (or choose any other contentious issue in history where people had divided opinions).

In his opening paragraph, he calls a sitting president a con artist. The first "source" he cites is his own article, written only a few days after the law passed, already calling it a failure. I don't care which "side" you're on, it's a stretch to call this news.

The real shame is that if the article were less biased, it would never have made it this high on the front page.

Re: Bitcoin Failed in El Salvador. The President Says the Answer Is More Bitcoin

#60

Post by NicoJuicy »

Passthepeas wrote: post #13

So the key reason for btc adoption in El Salvador is cheaper remittance payments, I find it odd that an article that sets out to criticize btc in El Salvador doesn't even mention the original intended use case.

What would the problem be to use Transferwise?
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