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Podcast News·Nothing is Foreign

El Salvador's bitcoin experiment is what happens when a tech-bro becomes 'CEO' of a country

Can a nation — and economy — of 6.5 million people run on bitcoin? That's the real-time experiment playing out in El Salvador, where the country's tech bro president has made the cryptocurrency legal tender, the first in the world to do so.

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The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, gestures during his speech at the closing ceremony of the Latin Bitcoin conference (LaBitConf) at Mizata Beach, El Salvador, on November 20, 2021. (Marvin Recinos/AFP via Getty Images)

El Salvador made headlines in September last year when it became the first country in the world to make bitcoin legal tender, but months later, some say the experiment has left many regular Salvadorans behind. 

And things could get even more dicey for the Central American country of 6.5 million: if El Salvador doesn't remove bitcoin as legal tender, the International Monetary Fund has threatened to withhold a $1.3 billion dollar loan.

It doesn't seem to faze Nayib Bukele, the 40-year-old president of El Salvador. The self-professed "world's coolest dictator" whose Twitter bio reads "CEO of El Salvador" has close links to the technology sector.

Bukele justified the addition of bitcoin as legal tender — the country also uses the U.S. dollar — by claiming it would generate jobs and help provide financial inclusion to thousands outside the formal economy. 

Roberto Carlos Silva, owner of La Zontena store, poses at his business where he accepts Bitcoins at El Zonte Beach in Chiltiupan, El Salvador June 8, 2021. (Jose Cabezas/Reuters)

But Nelson Rauda, an investigative journalist from El Salvador, says the experiment has been plagued by problems — like poor cell service in a mountainous country to identity theft that make the use of a digital wallet impossible.

Rauda says the reality on the ground of people does not live up to the promise of Bukele and the "cryptobros."

"You're really ignoring the reality that people don't have enough to save a little money every month. They only make ends meet," said Rauda.

This week, join host Tamara Khandaker as Nothing is Foreign goes to El Salvador to find out more about how the country's bitcoin experiment has affected regular Salvadorans, and why Bukele is holding onto bitcoin despite the mounting losses.