Expert: Bitcoin Adoption Bad for El Salvador

Paul Greaney
By Paul Greaney
June 22, 2021NTD Business
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China and Iran are cracking down on Bitcoin, but El Salvador in Central America is embracing it with open arms. It’s the first country to classify it as legal tender, meaning businesses will have to accept it as payment—and you can even pay your taxes in it.

But one of the world’s top currency experts, professor Steve Hanke, says it offers no benefit for El Salvador’s economy and could even be harmful. He says El Salvador adopted the U.S. dollar as official currency over two decades ago and has benefited from the lowest levels of inflation in South America. He says Bitcoin is a highly volatile speculative asset.

NTD asked him why El Salvador is doing it? Who’s benefiting?

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