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    El Salvador abandons Bitcoin as legal tender

    (ticotimes.net)
    927 points smallerfish | 11 comments | 04 Feb 25 00:00 UTC | HN request time: 1.043s | source | bottom
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    portaouflop ◴[04 Feb 25 02:07 UTC] No.42926658[source]▶
    IMF gave them 1.4 billion to abandon the “experiment”:

    > The IMF made this a condition for a loan of 1.4 billion US dollars (1.35 billion euros). In December of last year, the IMF reached an agreement with President Nayib Bukele’s government on the loan of the stated amount to strengthen the country’s “fiscal sustainability” and mitigate the “risks associated with Bitcoin,” as it was described.

    —-

    I dislike cryptocurrencies as much as the next guy but this was clearly something else than a failure of the currency itself

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    dragonwriter ◴[04 Feb 25 04:41 UTC] No.42928058[source]▶
    If you need to go to the IMF for a loan of ~3% of your GDP to mitigate the risks associated with Bitcoin, well, that's a pretty good sign that adopting Bitcoin as legal tender was a pretty disastrous failure.
    replies(6): >>42928091 #>>42928348 #>>42928498 #>>42929002 #>>42929046 #>>42936487 #
    willmadden ◴[04 Feb 25 05:43 UTC] No.42928498[source]▶
    What are you talking about? Their Bitcoin holdings more than doubled in value.
    replies(3): >>42928631 #>>42928708 #>>42931590 #
    1. computerdork ◴[04 Feb 25 06:05 UTC] No.42928631[source]▶
    Yeah, i really dislike bitcoin, but have to admit, it has been a very profitable investment for a lot of people (and still hasn't completely crashed like expected)...

    ... although as a form of currency (as opposed to an investment) for El Salvador, it looks like it's a failure

    replies(2): >>42928706 #>>42928913 #
    2. lern_too_spel ◴[04 Feb 25 06:15 UTC] No.42928706[source]▶
    The risk that IMF would be concerned about is that the value of their holdings could go to 0 overnight by a wallet hack, data loss, an unscrupulous government employee, or the world running out of greater fools.
    replies(2): >>42928786 #>>42934799 #
    3. codebolt ◴[04 Feb 25 06:27 UTC] No.42928786[source]▶
    Tether collapse is still the big one.
    4. ornornor ◴[04 Feb 25 06:45 UTC] No.42928913[source]▶
    It’s around 100k USD apiece, +875% in the last 5y, +340% over last 2y, +130% over last 1y… I’d also qualify this as “not quite crashed yet”

    I dont know what the future hodls but it’s looking pretty good for bitcoin so far

    replies(4): >>42929589 #>>42929741 #>>42930075 #>>42934313 #
    5. nunobrito ◴[04 Feb 25 08:16 UTC] No.42929589[source]▶
    That is not a currency in the same manner that gold isn't a currency or barrels of oil isn't either. Or in other words, you don't use for buying a coffee or grocery.

    Sure that you can always point some exotic and rare exceptions to prove differently but even yourself don't use it on normal daily financial operations, and no, Lightning isn't even bitcoin so please don't argue with that.

    There are more things backing up the value rise for that old tech. Just please diversify into other areas so you don't come out empty handed in some years from now.

    6. johnnyanmac ◴[04 Feb 25 08:32 UTC] No.42929741[source]▶
    >I dont know what the future hodls but it’s looking pretty good for bitcoin so far

    The future always looks good right before a crash. You really don't want a currency as unstable as bitcoin as your legal ledger. we would have had 2 crashes already in this decade alone: the obvious 2020 dip and the dip in 2023.

    All the DOGE/Trump shennaigans + the investigation on the Hawk Tuah coin will probably crash it again late this year.

    replies(2): >>42930115 #>>42932327 #
    7. miningape ◴[04 Feb 25 09:11 UTC] No.42930075[source]▶
    As we all know, past results ARE an indicator of future performance
    8. Applejinx ◴[04 Feb 25 09:17 UTC] No.42930115{3}[source]▶
    I don't think DOGE/Trump are real bitcoin advocates. I think they're using it as a financial weapon to exploit its vulnerability to crash and break things they don't want to exist.
    9. red-iron-pine ◴[04 Feb 25 13:52 UTC] No.42932327{3}[source]▶
    "the lightbulb is always brightest right before it burns out"
    10. robertlagrant ◴[04 Feb 25 16:15 UTC] No.42934313[source]▶
    > I dont know what the future hodls

    I see you.

    11. computerdork ◴[04 Feb 25 16:43 UTC] No.42934799[source]▶
    Yeah, that's my theory too on one reason it hasn't fully crashed (meaning "the world running out of greater fools"). Unlike tulip bulbs or the dot.com crash, bitcoin is a world-wide phenomenon so there is large supply of bitcoin buyers. Yeah, even the dot.com crash was done in the highly regulated US stock market.

    Also thinking, since it's extremely difficult to regulate, was wondering if some very clever people with huge holdings have formed a cartel and are doing a lot of price manipulation to prevent it from fully collapsing (maybe even during a rise in price, causing it to drop early to prevent a major run up). But that's just a theory.