El Salvador’s bet on bitcoin must not distract from democratic erosion
Populist president Nayib Bukele – who goes by ‘CEO of El Salvador’ on Twitter and frequently posts memes – has repeatedly said the adoption of bitcoin will boost investment to the country, writes Kieran Guilbert
As the value of bitcoin dropped last week, a high-profile figure took to Twitter to boast that he had “bought the dip.”
One would be forgiven for thinking it was Elon Musk, Tesla CEO and cryptocurrency cheerleader, rather than Nayib Bukele, the populist president of El Salvador.
“Missed the f***ing bottom by 7 minutes,” Mr Bukele tweeted on Saturday, shortly after posting that El Salvador had bought 150 bitcoins at an average price of $48,670.
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