Bitcoin collapses by more than 10% on a key day in its history

The slippage comes amid the early days of El Salvador, a country of just over 6.4 million people, which became the first in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, as stipulated in a law that has was expressly approved last June by Parliament, controlled by the party of President Nayib Bukele amid criticism from the population, banks and international organizations.

The president clarified that the use of bitcoin will be optional, but the law specifies that “any economic agent” is obliged to accept it “as a means of payment when it is offered to him by anyone who acquires a good or a service. . “

Yesterday, Bitcoin, the leader in cryptocurrencies, had overcome its losing streak, managing to surpass US $ 51,000 for the first time in nearly four months, but the situation is putting it back on the ropes.

The Bukele government has assured that the controversial measure will contribute to the banking of the population and prevent a loss of $ 400 million in remittances that Salvadorians send from abroad and which represent 22% of GDP, although some experts question it.

In El Salvador, which dollarized its economy two decades ago, the majority of 6.5 million Salvadorans rejected the bitcoin promoted by Bukele and preferred to continue using the greenback, according to the latest polls. “This Bitcoin is a currency that does not exist, it is a currency that will not favor the poor but the rich, because a poor person, what can he invest, if we barely have enough to eat?” declared José Santos Melara. , a Civil War veteran (1980-1992) who took part in a demonstration against cryptocurrency on Friday.