El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin into their national roster was seen as a significant turning point in the history of cryptocurrencies. While the virtual asset community celebrated the recognition, on-ground protests conveyed a very different story. Since the announcement by the El Salvador government, citizens have taken to the streets to demonstrate their frustration.
The protests in El Salvador were conducted by a population tired of bearing the government’s incompetencies. Many believed that the decisions taken by the upper echelons of the government were just a distraction from the real issues. El Salvador’s latest addendum for Bitcoin has only fuelled this raging fire.
On Wednesday, anti-government activists raised slogans against Bitcoin adoption as well as other policies undertaken by President Nayib Bukele. The main concern was that the government focussed on activities that acted as publicity stunts. Opposition lawmaker Claudia Ortiz recently claimed in an interview:
“Bitcoin was a very big economic decision, and it was done totally illogically, sent to congress and passed the same day. We are going through a profound fiscal crisis with high cost of living and unemployment and the government’s response, instead of serious economic policy, is to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.”
Large swathes of protestors raised slogans that bashed the government’s latest moves with many picking out the Bitcoin addition. Placards read “We were defrauded by Bitcoin” and ” No to dictatorship” amongst several others. The capital, San Salvador also witnessed a bunch of protestors set fire to a newly installed Bitcoin ATM. This event stood out from a largely peaceful movement trying to produce solutions for the country’s problems.
Bukele has also come under fire for his policies to consolidate power within his own strongholds. Several of the protests targeted his steps that were seen as anti-constitutional. Other than making Bitcoin a legal tender, El Salvador also proposed the elimination of the presidential re-election ban. These were just a few of the approximately 200 changes that Bukele’s powerhouse put forth in the latest government release.