FOREWORD
IS EL SALVADOR GIVING THE WORLD A GLIMPSE OF THE FUTURE ? News that El Salvador has made Bitcoin staterecognised legal tender should give us all pause for thought on the evolution of cryptocurrencies . Is this small Central American nation providing everyone with an early glimpse of what ’ s to come ?
“ It ’ s clear that Bitcoin ’ s ability to reshuffle the balance of power in world finance is being realised ”
Perhaps we shouldn ’ t be so surprised , as the politicosocial circumstances of El Salvador make it primed for such a pioneering decision . As a country , it has long suffered from multi-factor economic destabilisation that has threatened to bring it to the point of collapse .
Furthermore , El Savador ’ s reliance on the US Dollar since 2001 has placed its financial self-determination too often into international hands . This may help to clarify why 74 % of its Congress voted in favour of President Nayib Bukele ’ s proposition .
After all , Bitcoin ’ s decentralised nature can wrest control of smaller nations back from larger ones , which subsequently casts the criticisms of those with a vested interest in fiat currency in a different light . As China clamps down on domestic crypto mining operations , which constitute 65 % of the global total , it ’ s clear that Bitcoin ’ s ability to reshuffle the balance of power in world finance is being realised . Whether El Salvador becomes a success story or a cautionary tale remains to be seen .
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