El Salvador’s $300 Million Bitcoin ‘Revolution’ Is Failing Miserably

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Everyone knows someone who cashed in a retirement account or stimulus check to buy crypto. Bukele did it with El Salvador’s treasury. In September 2021 the country became the first to declare Bitcoin a legal currency. Bukele gave $30 in Bitcoin to each citizen, plunked down Bitcoin ATMs in every town plaza and told businesses to accept Bitcoin as payment. He also used government funds to buy $100 million worth, mostly when prices were peaking, then trolled critics by tweeting that he’d done it on his phone, in the bathroom, naked. And with the country on the edge of a debt crisis, Bukele told off international creditors, saying he’d solve El Salvador’s financial problems with Bitcoin instead. “#Bitcoin is FU money!” he tweeted.

A year in, it’s clear the move is failing. Almost no one in the country is using Bitcoin, and the few who bought after Bukele made it legal tender would’ve lost big: Bitcoin has dropped 61% since September 2021. In a country where many live on less than $10 a day, he spent hundreds of millions of dollars to turn himself into a crypto influencer just in time for the crypto crash.

Behind the debacle was a small group of evangelists from wealthier countries—startup CEOs, influencers, grifters. They enlisted an entire country in a publicity stunt and cheered on Bukele even as he ordered mass arrests and packed the Supreme Court, which subsequently ruled he could run for reelection despite a constitutional ban. Salvadorans are still dealing with the consequences.

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