Bitcoin witnessed a two-week price high as El Salvador rejects IMF’S call to ditch Bitcoin as its national currency.
Barely a week ago, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) urged El Salvador to repeal its bitcoin law and drop Bitcoin as its national currency. However, El Salvador rejected this urge from the IMF to drop bitcoin as legal tender. Salvadoran Treasury Minister, Alejandro Zelaya, dismissed the IMF’s request saying that the country’s decision to adopt Bitcoin as an official currency was an issue of “sovereignty.”
Alejandro Zelaya stated that countries are sovereign nations and they take sovereign decisions about public policy.
“No international organization is going to make us do anything, anything at all.”
The IMF cited that adopting Bitcoin as a national currency could trigger financial stability, financial integrity, and consumer protection. The IMF further claimed that Bitcoin’s price volatility and the potential for criminals to misuse it makes Bitcoin unsuitable.
The organization has also previously told El Salvador that their actions could prevent the country from getting a loan from the institution, something that leading figures within the crypto industry have suggested can be bypassed.
Marcus Sotiriou, an analyst at the UK based digital asset broker GlobalBlock said,
“It seems that El Salvador may not need the coercive loans from the IMF any longer by issuing the innovative bitcoin Bond, which allows them to raise funds to set up mining infrastructure.”
Last week, the Salvadoran President, Nayib Bukele, responded to the IMF’s request by tweeting a meme from The Simpsons. The tweet caption stated: “I see you, IMF. That’s very nice.”
The rejection possibly led to the increase in Bitcoin’s price. This triggered a crypto rally that has added more than a quarter of a trillion dollars to the overall market.
What do you think about the El Salvador rejection of the IMF’s call? Should El Salvador drop Bitcoin as its national currency? Tell us in the comments section below.
