Bitcoin enthusiasts the world over, are waiting in anticipation for El Salvador’s Bitcoin law to finally come into force tomorrow, 7 September. This marks the first time that the cryptocurrency will attain the status of legal tender in a nation.
To commemorate this event, a Reddit community with over 3 million members, decided to buy Bitcoin en masse. Since 7 September is also Brazil’s independence day, the community decided to buy $30 worth of Bitcoin, each, to show their support towards the financial freedom Bitcoin provides. The idea is for each user to purchase a very small amount of BTC, at a feasible price, as a symbol of inclusivity.
A lot of optimism and support could be noticed within the community, with many confirming their participation. Some even mentioned that this buying spree should be carried out after the launch, so that the value of BTC in El Salvadorian wallets increase. To that, original author of the thread noted that this was not an effort to pump the price of Bitcoin, but to show support to El Salvador.
Nevertheless, if this does materialize, the movement in the market may show a large acquisition volume on the date. The orchestrator of the world’s first Bitcoin adoption by a country, Nayib Bukele has also in the past referred to the top coin as the “currency of freedom.”
Even though support for El Salvador’s move, came not just from the country’s South American neighbors but the whole world, the citizens of El Salvador don’t yet seem convinced of its benefits. There have been varied levels of protests in the country, over last the month. Many are fearful of increased governmental control, corruption and further economic downfall.
The Central American University (UCA) recently conducted a poll among Salvadorans, that noted a large majority of the focus group “strongly disagreeing” with the use of Bitcoin as legal tender. As few as 32% among those surveyed somewhat agreed to this move.
Having said, this is going to be a tremendous change, and the Salvadoran government has been making efforts towards ensuring a smooth transition. Only a week ago, the El Salvador Congress made a decision to create a fund worth $150 million, in order to make the conversions of Bitcoin to US Dollars possible. What’s more, for this reason, there were hundreds of cash machines being placed across El Salvador.
