El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele took the stage last weekend at the end of 'Bitcoin Week' to the cheers of fans delighted his Central American country has become the first to adopt crypto currency as legal tender, alongside the U.S. dollar.
El Salvador's president Nayib Bukele speaks at the closing party of the “Bitcoin Week” where he announced the plan to build the first "Bitcoin City" in the world, in Teotepeque, El Salvador November 20, 2021.
But some in El Salvador and beyond expressed outrage at the glitzy event in a nation beleaguered by inequality, violence and poor public services. has widened sharply since late April. This week it added an extra 79 basis points and sits above 1,200 bps, its widest ever. But many in the cryptocurrency community are upbeat, saying the bond will harness strong retail demand.
As vendors hawked "Jesus Loves Bitcoin" shirts, panel discussions grouped crypto currency leaders and Salvadoran ministers. Excitement was widespread at having a 'petri dish', as many attendees called El Salvador’s experiment.