[rmbyrro]

Currently, Bitcoin adds zero value, even if it was used for every single transaction in the country.

Currencies are not money because they don't store value. Bitcoin was a promise to be money in the full sense.

It's ability to store value is questionable, since it became a highly speculative and fraud facilitation asset. And the other aspects of being money are worse than currencies.

[surement]

El Salvador has a trade deficit and can't print USDs; part of the point of adopting BTC was to allow Salvadorans abroad to send money into the country without paying wire fees.

[toomuchtodo]

I bet they could’ve put together an agreement with TransferWise or OFX to issue digital wallets to citizens and expats for facilitating more efficient remittance at scale for less money than what they’ve wasted on crypto losses.

[Alex7845]

the same argument can be said about literally every non-crypto currency. A US dollar doesn't have any "value" other than the small amount of heat you get if you burn your paper bills.

[imtringued]

Actually there are many reasons.

You pay taxes in USD, USD is legal tender for debts, you are incentivized to borrow in USD and finally because the dollar is widely accepted even beyond the borders of the US.

Money is really only meant to be a relationship between people which tracks how much they owe each other, the value isn't derived from money itself but from the network effects of many humans engaging in economic activity.

5% inflation obviously ruins the store of value aspect but it hasn't stopped anyone from sending or accepting inflating money. The idea that a merchant would refuse USD because it lost 95% of its value compared to eighty years ago or whatever is unheard of and doesn't seem to bother merchants as long as they can re-adjust prices quickly enough.

The last one is the most important. If everyone in El Salvador accepts Bitcoin then Bitcoin will act as money just like any other currency.

[JumpCrisscross]

> same argument can be said about literally every non-crypto currency. A US dollar doesn't have any "value" other than the small amount of heat you get if you burn your paper bills.

Or the food and fuel one can import with it, which one can't with Bitcoin.

[notch656a]

If you offer high enough margins and volume I guarantee someone will import food or fuel for you in exchange for bitcoin.

[Tao3300]

Hey, at least you didn't say "fiat". That's the magic word for "stop reading this comment".

[CrazyStat]

Once a month or so I search Twitter for the phrase "fiat maximalist" to find the dumbest cryptobro takes.