El Salvador's crypto experiment ends in failure

Key points:

> Despite these profits, crypto has brought El Salvador more costs than benefits. The free publicity has been welcome, yet crypto-investment and crypto-tourism have been small beer. Gains in financial inclusion and from more efficient payments are meagre at best: the currency never really caught on. In 2022, when the hype was at its peak, a survey by CID-Gallup found that only a fifth of firms accepted bitcoin and just 5% of tax payments were in crypto.

> Moreover, the policy cost $375m in all—from the Chivo rollout, subsidised transaction fees, bitcoin ATMs and more—according to Moody’s, a rating agency. That far exceeds the profits on bitcoin holdings, which could still evaporate. By delaying an IMF deal, the crypto experiment kept El Salvador’s risk premium high.

So this was just a way to shift more public dollars into private hands?

375 minus like 287 in unrealized gains. My next question is are they still behind once you consider the market value of the ATM and other investments. I doubt it's a total write off.

yes

The bulk of BTC is owned by like 50 people. It’s such a fucking joke.

Who’s realistically going to buy 400 or so bitcoin ATMs (must pick up in El Salvador)? ATMs aren’t a high-margin business.

I don't trust El Salvador. I also don't trust the people indicting their policy. I hope to God they have more than 400 ATM to show for 375M. Surely there is more to it.

I was wrong - they actually only have 215 of them: https://cointelegraph.com/news/poland-overtakes-el-salvador-...

It was just bad, showboaty policy from a showboaty strongman leader. Why would you give him the benefit of the doubt even now?

I don't want to give him the benefit but I also question how even a strongman can justify over $1M per ATM. My alarm bells are ringing that I'm missing something.

and 20 of them lost the keys to those BTC 10 years ago