Economy

El Salvador adopts bitcoin as its national currency despite hiccups

Published

4 months ago

September 7, 2021

Jenny Goldsberry

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”835208″ player=”23886″ title=”Border%20Patrol%20Agents%20Beg%20Biden%20Admin%20To%20Do%20Something%20About%20Immigration%20Crisis” duration=”192″ description=”undefined” uploaddate=”2021-07-28″ thumbnailurl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/18168/snapshot/835208.png” contentUrl=”//cdn.brid.tv/live/partners/18168/sd/835208.mp4″]

El Salvador officially adopted bitcoin as its national currency Tuesday. First the country announced its Bitcoin law back in June.

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said that the country purchased 400 bitcoins, worth around $20 million. Yet, according to the World Bank, only 30% of Salvadorans even had a bank account in 2017. The country’s internet connection isn’t much better, either. According to a 2020 study, El Salvador had the second lowest internet penetration across Latin America and the Caribbean.

It appears the discount is ending 🥲

Thanks for the dip @IMFNews. We saved a million in printed paper.

El Salvador now holds 550 bitcoin.#BitcoinDay #BTC 🇸🇻
— Nayib Bukele 🇸🇻 (@nayibbukele) September 7, 2021

Since the law came into effect, the country bought an additional 150 bitcoin. Bukele lauded the purchase, tweeting “we saved a million in printed paper.” But the app the government approved to help Salvadorians manage their bitcoin hit a snag on its first day. As a result, the president took to Twitter to ask the public to check for errors on the app. Some responded that they did not receive their promised introductory $30 for joining the app for the first time.

Estamos haciendo un test en vivo de los nuevos servidores.

Los que ya hayan descargado @chivowallet y aún no se han registrado, ¿podrían hacernos el favor de intentar registrarse y colocar en los comentarios si hay algún error o si todo el proceso funciona bien?
— Nayib Bukele 🇸🇻 (@nayibbukele) September 7, 2021

“Could you please try to register and post in the comments if there are any errors or if the whole process works fine?” the Salvadorian president tweeted Tuesday.

Meanwhile, the president stands accused of being under the influence of China. On the latest episode of the Sara Carter Show, Central Intelligence liaison officer Jerry Torres said as much. “The El Salvador president, He’s pretty new,” Torres told Carter. “He’s under the thumb of Chinese right now.”

This year over 74,000 from Salvadorians crossed the United States southern border, where bitcoin is nowhere near becoming a national currency. Just a week ago former President Trump appeared on Fox Business to say that he is “not a big fan” of bitcoin because it’s “”potentially a disaster waiting to happen.” However, globally, the digital currency has been performing relatively well for the past two weeks.

You can follow Jenny Goldsberry on Twitter @jennyjournalism.

Related Topics:bitcoin el salvador Jerry Torres Nayib Bukele

Economy

VIDEO: Thousands of packages looted as thieves rob L.A. bound trains

Published

5 days ago

January 14, 2022

Sara Carter Staff

The lawlessness of California continues to manifest itself in very visible ways. Videos are emerging on social media showing huge amounts of trash, and in particular, UPS boxes and amazon packages that were en route to residential addresses.

I’m told by law enforcement these @UPS bags are especially sought after by thieves opening cargo containers… they are often full of boxes with merchandise bound for residential addresses. More valuable than say, a cargo container full of low value bulky items like toilet paper. pic.twitter.com/Tj5bQNIeby

— John Schreiber (@johnschreiber) January 13, 2022

The trash is piling up jut next to the train tracks, where CBS Los Angeles reports train burglaries are on the rise. “There’s loot3ed packages as far as the eye can see. Amazon packages, @UPS boxes, unused Covid tests, fishing lures, epi pens. Cargo containers left busted open on trains” tweeted John Schreiber.

Schreiber added, “I’m told by law enforcement these @UPS bags are especially sought after by thieves opening cargo containers…they are often full of boxes with merchandise bound for residential addresses. More valuable than say, a cargo container full of low value bulky items like toilet paper.”

Schreiber’s multiple videos posted to Twitter show the absolute disgust resulting from the thievery. “As you can see, trains frequently slow or stop in this area as they get worked into the @UnionPacific Intermodal facility near Downtown LA. The thieves use this opportunity to break open containers and take what’s inside, I’d say every 4^th or 5^th rail car had opened containers.

In another tweet with more photos of damaged property, Schreiber writes, “missing a package? Shipment delayed? Maybe your package is among the thousands we found discarded among the tracks. This is but one area thieves have targeted trains. We were told this area was just cleaned up 30 days ago so what you see is all within the last month. @CBSLA.”