Since El Salvador adopted Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender in September 2021, there have been a number of quick judgments issued declaring this move a failure, with some pundits going as far as to suggest that Bitcoin is somehow responsible for the economic challenges that existed in El Salvador well before Bitcoin was even created. But the traditional financial experts, talking heads and even representatives from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) espousing this point of view are missing the point entirely.
After Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele announced his plan in July to offer to repurchase publicly held bonds maturing between 2023 and 2025, El Salvador’s sovereign debt totaled more than $20 billion. Admittedly a massive amount relative to the Salvadoran economy, it was unrelated to the decision to accept Bitcoin as legal tender.