Earlier quoted context omitted.
If the USD was such a good currency, why does the US operate at a deficit?
A deficit is not a loan. The USD and the historical strength and faith on the US allowed the US to offer its own securities, not ones pwned by and with terms dictated by external entities.
El Salvador abandons Bitcoin as legal tender
321–330 of 930 posts
Re: El Salvador abandons Bitcoin as legal tender
#322Earlier quoted context omitted.
Mostly because transferring BTC is very expensive. Every time I’ve done it I’m shocked at the fees that sites like Bitbuy requires. So if you’re going to do it then it has to be for a good reason.
This is fascinating to me because we were told 15 years ago (ish) that one of the main things that made crypto special (besides it being guaranteed finite unlike fiat) was that unlike say, Visa, it would be economic to use, even for small transactions, because The Big Banks wouldn't take their ~3% cut of every transaction. We all assumed that cut was determined by greed, but if Bitcoin is expensive to transact in now…
this should all be added to that 3% card fees.
Re: El Salvador abandons Bitcoin as legal tender
#323Earlier quoted context omitted.
They could . Ecuador does in fact mint its own US-dollar coins, and El Salvador could dedollarize.
Ecuador mints their own centavo coins, but they are not legal tender outside of Ecuador. They've never released their own $1 coin into general circulation – their ubiquitous Sacagawea dollars are minted in the US.
US dollars are also not legal tender outside the US, with a few exceptions (I think including both El Salvador and Ecuador.)
Re: El Salvador abandons Bitcoin as legal tender
#324Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Not in my lifetime Were you alive in the mid to late 90s? A string of balanced budgets and surpluses. There are new problems and no dot com bubble right now but most Americans were alive the last time we had balanced budgets. It is quite possible.
Yes, it does happen from time to time coincidentally usually in the lead-up to financial crises…
Re: El Salvador abandons Bitcoin as legal tender
#325IMF gave them 1.4 billion to abandon the “experiment”: > The IMF made this a condition for a loan of 1.4 billion US dollars (1.35 billion euros). In December of last year, the IMF reached an agreement with President Nayib Bukele’s government on the loan of the stated amount to strengthen the country’s “fiscal sustainability” and mitigate the “risks associated with Bitcoin,” as it was described. —- I dislike cryptocur…
this is a really ambiguous phrasing. Is bitcoin a "currency"? is el Salvador adopting bitcoin as a ___?____ a currency?
Re: El Salvador abandons Bitcoin as legal tender
#326IMF gave them 1.4 billion to abandon the “experiment”: > The IMF made this a condition for a loan of 1.4 billion US dollars (1.35 billion euros). In December of last year, the IMF reached an agreement with President Nayib Bukele’s government on the loan of the stated amount to strengthen the country’s “fiscal sustainability” and mitigate the “risks associated with Bitcoin,” as it was described. —- I dislike cryptocur…
Re: El Salvador abandons Bitcoin as legal tender
#327IMF gave them 1.4 billion to abandon the “experiment”: > The IMF made this a condition for a loan of 1.4 billion US dollars (1.35 billion euros). In December of last year, the IMF reached an agreement with President Nayib Bukele’s government on the loan of the stated amount to strengthen the country’s “fiscal sustainability” and mitigate the “risks associated with Bitcoin,” as it was described. —- I dislike cryptocur…
What do you mean "gave" them 1.4 Billion? It's a loan so it has to be repaid. Usually, this is unsaid but with crypto people you sometimes have to explain basic financial conditions. Also, the loan was to bail them from risks of Bitcoin.
It's funny to have to explain basic government loan mechanics to this comment, given the derisive comment about "crypto people" needing basic financial concepts explained.
Re: El Salvador abandons Bitcoin as legal tender
#328https://restofworld.org/2022/el-salvador-chivo-bitcoin-walle...
Re: El Salvador abandons Bitcoin as legal tender
#329IMF gave them 1.4 billion to abandon the “experiment”: > The IMF made this a condition for a loan of 1.4 billion US dollars (1.35 billion euros). In December of last year, the IMF reached an agreement with President Nayib Bukele’s government on the loan of the stated amount to strengthen the country’s “fiscal sustainability” and mitigate the “risks associated with Bitcoin,” as it was described. —- I dislike cryptocur…
The very first IMF loan ever given was to France for reconstruction. One of the terms for the condition was to remove the only elected communist in their government from their position. IMF loans have ALWAYS been political
Re: El Salvador abandons Bitcoin as legal tender
#330Earlier quoted context omitted.
Are you able to point to a single case where Bitcoin was used as legal tender in an every day business transaction? By this I mean, can you give an example where someone ordered a cup of coffee with Bitcoin directly and not through a proxy?
100% this. Food, medicine, transportation, education, and everything else at or near the bottom of Maslow's pyramid of needs still cannot be directly purchased with bitcoin. The other punchline to the Bitcoin joke is that it's finite. In 120 years it will begin to evaporate from existence as more and more wallets are simply lost to time.
This is how insane that sounds