Episode 11: Bitcoin Country

Back in September 2021, El Salvador became the first nation in the world to formally adopt Bitcoin as legal currency. They’re not alone anymore. As of April this year, Central African Republic made Bitcoin legal tender and El Salvador’s neighbor Panama passed legislation to authorize Bitcoin as a legal form of payment.

Crypto Bros and Bitcoin maximalists are very excited. Bitcoin fanboy mags flooded social media with memes and links to articles about the new age of prosperity that is sure to come to El Salvador. But that’s the thing about all the predictions for Bitcoin. They’re always about what Bitcoin is going to do—sometime in the future. No one ever points to anything Bitcoin has already done. How has Bitcoin done anything except make a small group of already rich people even richer and maybe make a very, very small group of people—who weren’t rich already—slightly wealthier.

While they’re looking for a new Crypto Island, El Salvador could at least make do as their temporary promised land.

Articles:
• https://www.jacobinmag.com/2022/04/el-salvador-nayib-bukele-authoritarianism-security-police-brutality-gang-violence • https://apnews.com/article/cryptocurrency-technology-business-blockchain-lifestyle-e0b51430d7b3c4853cd4618984b7d484

Music:
• Airglow - New Touch (CC BY 4.0) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0

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