El Salvador Adopts Bitcoin as Its National Currency

Guest: Yesenia Portillo, East Coast Coordinator for Committee In
Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES).


On September 7, The New York Times reported: "El Salvador on
Tuesday became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal
tender, allowing the cryptocurrency to be used in any
transaction, from buying a cup of coffee to paying
taxes. The bold move, largely celebrated by the
international bitcoin community, has found a more skeptical
reception at home and in the traditional financial world, amid
concerns that it could bring instability and unnecessary risk to
the Central American country’s fragile economy.


In El Salvador, many are viewing the move with confusion and
distrust, afraid that the volatility inherent to using virtual
tokens with no physical backing, which are apt to soar and crash
in value, could be dangerous for the economy — and their own
savings.


El Salvador’s move puts it at the forefront of a revolution in
finance on the blockchain, where a parallel universe of
crypto-based alternative banking services is booming and
eliciting alarm from officials in Washington and beyond."


To talk more about this global first, we are joined by Yesenia
Portillo of CISPES (Committee in Solidarity with the People of El
Salvador)