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Briefing

Bitcoin plunges as El Salvador becomes first nation to use it as national currency

Bitcoin’s price dove as much as 17 per cent on what cryptocurrency advocates have been calling B-Day, or Bitcoin Day. The Central American nation bought 400 bitcoins worth about US$20.9 million, but the launch had a rocky start when the government took its Chivo wallet app (with US$30 worth of the currency) offline after tens of thousands of people tried to download it and ran into technical glitches. (The Wall Street Journal, CNBC)

Briefing

Bitcoin plunges as El Salvador becomes first nation to use it as national currency

By Martin Patriquin
Sep 7, 2021
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Bitcoin’s price dove as much as 17 per cent on what cryptocurrency advocates have been calling B-Day, or Bitcoin Day. The Central American nation bought 400 bitcoins worth about US$20.9 million, but the launch had a rocky start when the government took its Chivo wallet app (with US$30 worth of the currency) offline after tens of thousands of people tried to download it and ran into technical glitches. (The Wall Street Journal, CNBC)

Talking point: Forty-year-old El Salvador President Nayib Bukele hopes the country’s use of Bitcoin will democratize financial services for the country’s 6.5 million people. Yet a Central American University survey suggests the majority of Salvadorians are against the move, while some experts say Bitcoin’s historic volatility makes it unsuitable as a national currency. Victoria-based Blockstream was one of two companies tapped to advise the country on the transition. – Martin

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