El Salvador will probably be the first nation in the world to accept Bitcoin as an official currency, starting from the 7th of September, 2021.
At present, a new form of currency called cryptocurrency has emerged. As evinced by its name, it is an encrypted form of digital currency, which a user can send to another via a digital network called blockchain technology. No central financial institution of any country or nation owns this currency and this decentralization is what makes Bitcoin so popular.
However, the decision of this adoption has not gone down well with the population, especially with the traders who sell their merchandise in the “Excuartel” trade exchange in El Salvador’s capital city. They are complaining about the lack of communication on the officials’ part. They have reportedly not been informed the due procedure of using this currency.
It is alarming that investors in the “Excuartel” as well as the 6.4 million Central Americans of the country have expressed their dissent against the decision. As Claudia Molina, a seller of garments asserted, they have no idea about the currency, its origin, and its value, whether it will be profitable, or force the users to incur huge losses. Since they have not been trained to use the currency, they are clueless about how to utilize the currency or bring the change.
Nayib Bukele, the president, has ordered the government to install one of the banking machines in the “Excuartel” market, so that citizens can exchange bitcoins for fiat currency of American dollars, without paying any extra charges.
Traders and consumers in the market have already asserted their stance, saying that they will refrain from using the new currency because its system has not been explained to them. 300 demonstrators protested against the Bitcoin law in front of the El Salvador Congress as early as July. However, Bukele has not budged from his stand.
