It’s a disgusting centralized censorable custodial banking app, with the GOVERNMENT as proxy Custodian. Chivo-to-Chivo payments don’t use blockchain AT ALL. They’re just made up numbers in the backend database. They’re frequently incorrect.
The TRUE story behind bitcoin in El Salvador: Full Interview
16:50have citizens complained or have you got16:52any feedback or pushback on kind of the16:54volatility of bitcoin or is it something16:56where they’re seeing it appreciate over16:57time so it’s a little more comfortable16:58or is there that day-to-day swing that17:00makes them a little uneasy17:02i mean i would say all i mean it’s it’s17:04there’s no denying that the volatility17:06is a challenge for bitcoin the fact that17:09you know the volatility has historically17:11been going up i think is helpful so17:13people have that kind of long view that17:15maybe you know they lose money you know17:17in dollar terms this month but you know17:19overall they’re going to be in a better17:21situation um but i think that’s just17:23part of the process of bitcoin17:24monetizing that it’s trying to find its17:26value and so you know i think we still17:28have several years of this which is why17:30i think it’s the gu it was very wise of17:32the government to put into the wallet17:34the ability for people to auto convert17:37uh there’s the ability for them to hold17:39their value in dollars but still utilize17:41the bitcoin payment rails and i think17:43that’s an important distinction that a17:44lot of people don’t understand17:46especially the mainstream press they17:48don’t understand the difference between17:49you know bitcoin the asset and bitcoin17:51the payment rails and so it’s the17:53bitcoin payment rails that are really17:55the most important for the country at17:56this juncture17:58and that can be the18:00volatility can be mitigated by holding18:02in dollars and allowing18:07in that auto convert function18:09gotcha18:10john what questions you got yeah mike18:11thank you for doing this um really big18:14fan of what you guys are doing as joe18:16said but um i’m curious more about the18:18the customers and the businesses how are18:19they interacting um and then like is it18:22kind of being adopted seamlessly by the18:24customers in the businesses and then18:25what tools are the businesses18:26specifically using18:28to accept bitcoin as a payment to do any18:30loyalty programs that they have like18:32what is it like from their perspective18:35so most uh the businesses that we’ve18:37been working with here and also are very18:39small mom-and-pop businesses so they’re18:41businesses that never would be qualified18:43to accept credit cards and so for them18:45this is the first time for them to have18:46any type of mobile payments um network18:49and they’re just fascinated by the fact18:51that now you know somebody can send18:53bitcoin from across town without having18:55to be physically present and they can18:57send a little delivery boy to you know18:59go deliver them their papoosas or their19:01groceries and so for them it’s been a19:04huge asset to kind of have this whole19:06digital world opened up to them for the19:08first time19:09most of them have been using the bitcoin19:11beach wallet developed by galloway money19:14and that’s because the team from galway19:16spent several months here and have kind19:18of learned how the people used it they19:20saw the things that didn’t make sense to19:21them there’s oftentimes a big disconnect19:24from the developers who kind of live in19:26their own bubble versus you know19:27specifically people in a developing19:30country and so i think it’s very19:31important that we build wallets and19:34tools that are actually what the users19:36want not what the developers want19:39perfectly said19:40mike i got two more questions for you19:42and then we’ll uh we’ll let you go is19:44one when you think about uh19:47bitcoin and the continued move forward19:50uh the president is tweeting and he19:53tweeted yesterday that they bought 20019:54bitcoin he then tweeted they bought19:56another 200. uh and then today during19:58the dip he essentially tweeted uh that20:01they bought the dip bought 150 bitcoin20:03said thanks imf uh you know kind of in20:06some way was using twitter um in a very20:10different way than most heads of state20:11use20:12how do you evaluate uh bitcoin the use20:16of twitter and the el salvadorian um or20:20the salvadorian like economy and and the20:22people are they excited by this do they20:25not like it like it just seems like it’s20:28so different that you could almost make20:30an argument that it’s good or bad we20:31were discussing earlier on the show is20:33you know it could be a positive for20:35bitcoin it could be a negative it could20:36be a positive for el salvador it could20:38be a negative same for the president how20:40do you view it in terms of almost like20:42the real time uh information sharing and20:45the transparency and the engagement that20:47maybe other heads of state uh don’t20:48participate in20:50yeah i think for bitcoin there’s no20:52question it’ll it’ll be beneficial i20:54mean even even if things go sour or20:57something unexpected happens and you20:59know there’s a really negative impact21:01just the fact that people are exposed to21:03bitcoin for their first time and you21:05know that sticks with them and so i21:08think regardless of what happens here on21:09the government level el salvador will be21:12a major hub for bitcoin just because21:14once people are exposed to bitcoin they21:16they rarely let it go21:18as far as for el salvador i think21:19there’s huge opportunities um we’ve21:22already seen it just the amount of21:24earned media that they’ve gotten from21:26from this decision i mean it’s worth21:28tens of billions of dollars just all the21:30focus that’s been on el salvador and21:33mostly in a positive light you know21:35looking at them being forward thinking21:37and embracing new technology versus21:39historically they’ve only the news is21:41only focused on el salvador when there21:42was a you know big gang shootings or21:45things like that and so it’s really21:46flipped the script on people’s21:48perception of el salvador and i don’t21:50think you can underestimate the value of21:52that and then also the number of21:55companies that are locating here that21:57like literally could not have pointed21:59out bitcoin on a map six months ago and22:02now are opening offices here22:04and not just paying better but they’re22:06providing that opportunity for people to22:07increase their education and the people22:10that are working for these companies now22:11will have the skills to go out and start22:13their own companies and so22:15i i think regardless22:20of what happens and regardless of the22:22ups and downs el salvador is going to be22:24the most prosperous country in central22:26america maybe latin america you know 1022:28years from now and i think bitcoin is22:30going to increase because definitely el22:32salvador is not going to be the last22:33country to embrace it i’m hearing all22:35kinds of rumors of other countries that22:37are looking to go the same direction and22:39so i think it’s just a matter of time22:41till that happens i’m sure right now22:43they’re sitting back a little bit to see22:44how this works out and if it works out22:47well they’ll jump in if if there’s some22:49you know big stumbles along the way22:51they’ll probably wait but you know that22:53might just be the difference between it22:55being six months before the next you22:57know announcement in 16 months so i23:00think it’s inevitable that that’s the23:02way the world’s going to go23:04yeah i tend to agree with you obviously23:06uh more so than not uh last question i23:08have for you which is a fun one uh23:10bitcoin is in uh what appears to be a23:12bull run any price predictions or23:14thoughts as to where bitcoin’s price23:16goes through the rest of this year23:19i mean i i personally don’t think we’re23:21done with the cycles um i i like the23:24super cycle idea i would love to think23:26that we you know are going to have23:28decreased volatility but23:30i you know i’m hesitant to make price23:32predictions because23:34everybody knows how uh you know that’s23:36worse than trying to predict the weather23:37but i would guess somewhere in the 15023:40range you know into the end of the year23:42but i still think we’ll have a big23:44pullback in the next year i hope i’m23:46wrong but that’s kind of what i’m23:48assuming but i do know 10 years from now23:51it’ll be you know at least 10x what it23:53is now and so that’s more what i’m23:55focused on so you think 10 years 500 00023:58or more is pretty safe bet24:01yeah i mean easy i24:03i would make that bet all day long24:05so so would i my friend i am making that24:07bet as i assume you are as well24:09[Laughter]24:11um all right uh we’ve got your twitter24:14account here um where uh we’ve been24:16telling people to go follow you and24:18engage uh at bitcoin beach is there24:20anywhere else that you want us to send24:22folks um to uh to find more about the24:25work you’re doing or check out anything24:26that you guys have built24:28yeah so we also have a website it’s just24:30wwe24:33but we are we are more current on24:35twitter the the website is kind of more24:37of a static page but it’s a good place24:39for people to go to to kind of see24:41pictures of the team there and that sort24:42of thing24:43all right and then actually i lied i24:45have one more question how good is the24:46surfing down there24:47the surfing in el salvador is horrible24:50don’t come here24:53it’s absolutely horrible bitcoin sucks24:55and surfing in el salvador sucks perfect24:58great message25:00the surfing is amazing it really is it’s25:02i’m a little hesitant to tell people25:04that because i’m getting older so it’s25:06harder for me to fight for waves so i25:08don’t want the crowds to descend too25:09fast but uh but yeah it’s an amazing25:12it’s an amazing town it’s amazing25:14country and lots of good waves and warm25:16water and especially warm people25:19that’s awesome man well listen thank you25:20so much for taking the time out of uh25:22out of this kind of historic day and uh25:24you know just thank you from me and my25:26brothers and everyone else in the25:27bitcoin community have been doing some25:28amazing work down there um and i think25:31the results speak for themselves so keep25:32up the great work and we’ll have to talk25:34again in the future as you guys continue25:36progressing25:38well hopefully next time we talk you’re25:39here in el zante so uh just let us know25:42when you’re ready to come down i i i i25:44don’t know if you know this but i almost25:46made a trip uh with uh the second best25:49bitcoin podcaster in the world peter25:51mccormick but uh we couldn’t make the uh25:53the dates work so i’m gonna come down25:55there uh but hopefully i come when he’s25:57not there so everyone thinks that i’m25:59cool because he’s not there to uh to26:01outshine me right26:03well he must have got hung up on26:04something because he told me he was26:06gonna come barge in and uh you know26:09crash our podcast today so he he’s26:11probably off interviewing the president26:13or something right now26:15no no don’t give him any credit he’s26:16probably he’s probably down the street26:19uh either uh26:21surfing drinking or on twitter trying to26:25figure out how he can get my attention26:26by tweeting at me incessantly stupid26:28things26:29[Laughter]26:31awesome man listen thank you so much for26:32doing this we’ll definitely do it again26:34all right sounds good we’ll see you guys26:35bye
Bitcoin Must Be Accepted By World Bank, According To Charter
The World Bank has poured cold water on El Salvador’s adoption of bitcoin as legal tender, saying it cannot support the move due to “environmental and transparency” concerns.
But the developmental body may soon be forced to accept bitcoin payments from countries that have embraced the cryptocurrency.
Its founding document, the 1944 Articles of Agreement, outlines the procedures and principles by which the World Bank pledges to engage with sovereign governments. A central theme in the document is its commitment to accept payments from member states in local currencies.
Section 12 of Article V defines acceptable “forms of holdings of currency” as follows:
- The Bank shall accept from any member, in place of any part of the member’s currency, paid in to the Bank under Article II, Section 7 (i), or to meet amortization payments on loans made with such currency, and not needed by the Bank in its operations, notes or similar obligations issued by the Government of the member or the depository designated by such member, which shall be non-negotiable, non-interest-bearing and payable at their par value on demand by credit to the account of the Bank in the designated depository.
So, as well as allowing payments in “the member’s currency”, the charter allows central banks to pay with “notes or similar obligations” backed by their reserves.
These are effectively IOUs from governments. They can be backed by dollars. They can be backed by precious metals (the US Federal Reserve guaranteed its notes with gold until 1934, and with silver until the 1960s). Or they can be backed by bitcoin; perhaps, in El Salvador’s case, the $150m bitcoin fund being established by Banco de Desarrollo de El Salvador, the national development bank.
Things gets more awkward. Section 9 of Article II states that holdings paid into the bank by members should be continually re-valued (presumably against a “real” benchmark like USD). If the local currency has appreciated, it says, the World Bank should do the decent thing and hands the gains back:
- Whenever the par value of a member’s currency is increased, the Bank shall return to such member within a reasonable time an amount of that member’s currency equal to the increase in the value of the amount of such currency
Conversely, if the local currency has depreciated, the member gets margin called and has to “pay to the Bank within a reasonable time an additional amount of its own currency sufficient to maintain the value”. Or, put another way: when bitcoin starts tanking, the World Bank starts stacking. Nice.
All of this depends, of course, on whether or not the body will respect El Salvador’s sovereign right to choose its own currency.
That’s not a foregone conclusion. Reuters asked them about that yesterday and got a decidedly arsey response. “We are committed to helping El Salvador in numerous ways, including for currency transparency and regulatory processes,” a spokesperson waffled. “While the government did approach us for assistance on bitcoin, this is not something the World Bank can support given the environmental and transparency shortcomings.”
The World Bank, by the way, has invested more than $12bn in fossil fuel projects over the past six years, representing at least 6% of its total investment portfolio. It also accepts gold payments from members, despite gold mines emitting on average 0.8 tonnes of CO2 for every ounce of gold produced.
Still, they’re worried about bitcoin’s carbon footprint. So they’ll be happy to know that, by some estimates, 76% of bitcoin miners are already using renewable energy.
Oh yes, and every transaction ever made on the bitcoin network is recorded on an immutable digital ledger that is fully visible to all market participants. That makes it, by far, the most transparent monetary network that has ever existed. No funny business allowed.
Follow me on Twitter.
Legalizing Bitcoin will ‘completely collapse El Salvador’s economy’ – Steve Hanke (Pt. 1/2)
Watch part 2 of this interview: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bpsdh… Steve Hanke, professor of Applied Economics at Johns Hopkins University (https://twitter.com/steve_hanke) discussed the practicality of actually using Bitcoin as legal tender in a country like El Salvador with David Lin, anchor for Kitco News (