[__MatrixMan__]

This was implemented poorly (and bitcoin was a poor choice), but it's not crazy to want a currency that is decoupled from the US government. Especially in Central America where the US government has a pretty shady track record.

[lbriner]

That's the thing. No-one wondered why they might want Crypto, the question was always "Why Bitcoin"?

There are many deep subtle questions about Economics, even with stablecoins but the choice of Bitcoin was way off base, the only possible reason to use it was because it was the only one most people had heard of.

Bitcoin is totally nonsensical for low-value high volume transactions and by the time the money gets paid to the seller for already bought goods, they could be making a loss. At least inflation in normal currency is only (usually) a few percent per year.

[yellowapple]

> No-one wondered why they might want Crypto, the question was always "Why Bitcoin"?

That question has an obvious answer: because it's the oldest and biggest cryptocurrency. Not letting perfect be the enemy of adequate (let alone good) is a perfectly reasonable choice.

[SilverBirch]

This isn't a problem though, countries issue their own currencies all the time. The problem is when you need to run a trade deficit, you need to buy more stuff than you sell internationally. It drives down the value of your currency. But crypto doesn't solve that. And borrowing against the national debt to buy risky crypto assets (which is what El Salvador did) makes that problem worse, not better. They will default on this debt.