El Salvador shocked the world when its president, Nayib Bukele, adopted Bitcoin as the country's official currency. El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt cryptocurrency as legal tender.

However, as the price of Bitcoin fell below $20,000, Bukele has asked his people to be patient. Under the Bukele administration, El Salvador has already spent about $105 million on Bitcoin from September 2021.

They paid almost $46,000 per coin, which means that the cryptocurrency's price is now less than half of when they bought it. The Associated Press reported that the price of Bitcoin has now fallen by over 57 percent.

Bitcoin-Boosting El Salvador President Asks for Patience

Nayib Bukele, a social-media-savvy millennial, took to Twitter to address concerns regarding Bitcoin's latest crash. 

Bukele acknowledged the anxiety Salvadoran citizens have but suggested that citizens just enjoy life. He assured those who invested in Bitcoin that their investments were safe. 

He also guaranteed that its value would "immensely grow after the bear market." He then added that "patience is the key."

Bukele has been a devoted booster of the cryptocurrency, boasting that he has been buying it whenever the price drops back in May. However, the price of Bitcoin has been dropping since he made that boast.

Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya also sought to calm the public, stating in an interview with a local TV station that the government has not sold any of its Bitcoin yet. Therefore the country has not yet suffered any losses. Zelaya also added that the slide in the price of Bitcoin does not matter all that much, as it does not represent 0.5 percent of the country's national budget.

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Economic Experts Raise Concerns For El Salvador's Economy With the Bitcoin Crash

While Nayib Bukele and his ministers are trying to reassure the public, critics and economic experts have voiced their concerns following the Bitcoin price crash.

Business professor Julio Sevilla recently sat down with NPR at how this might affect the country. Sevilla pointed out that the move to use Bitcoin as the country's official tender was not a very popular one, and popularizing it hasn't been successful. 

According to the professor, Salvadorans were offered $30 to sign up for the app to use Bitcoin. Unfortunately, only around 20 percent of those who signed up actually use it.

Sevilla further noted that many in the government do not question Bukele about Bitcoin because he controls all government branches, with his party holding the majority of the legislative branch. 

Bukele also overhauled the Supreme Court, placing allies and removing possible critics.

The NPR interview, however, assured the public that El Salvador's economy might not collapse just because of the Bitcoin crash. However, Sevilla said there might be repercussions, including potential problems in negotiating with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to get financing for El Salvador's debts.

According to the AP, the IMF has cited concerns with El Salvador adopting Bitcoin as its official currency due to its volatility. 

It recommended that the country dissolve the $150 million trust fund, which was created when El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as its legal tender. Currently, El Salvador has two official currencies, Bitcoin and the U.S. dollar.

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This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Rick Martin

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