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"The Right Eyes" on El Salvador

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"My prediction is that by the end of next year, we'll have at least five countries that accept Bitcoin as legal tender. All of them will be developing countries." That comes from Alex Hoptner, CEO of BitMex.

We already have a developing country, El Salvador, that has made Bitcoin legal tender, and although their decision has been quite a controversial one, seems that the ones that have been using the native Bitcoin wallet, Chivo, have not only HODLed their airdropped $30 worth of BTC, but also added to that.

El Salvador is a small country that was registering $400,000,000 in remittances sent from the US solely in 2020. I bet Western Union, which was the company facilitating "such a wealth transfer" from a country to another, will have to close facilities in El Salvador. Only a fool will be still using their services once they have Bitcoin for that.

I agree with Alex Hoptner though, developing countries are much more incentivized to make Bitcoin legal tender than the more developed ones. In the case of El Salvador for example, they don't even have their native currency, they're using the USD, thus being at the mercy of the US.

There are other countries that are suffering from hyper inflation, such as Venezuela and Brazil and for such cases Bitcoin is definitely a better option. HODLing Bitcoin has proven to be more profitable than any other currency in the world, or asset class, over the last decade. Why would anyone advocate for the sole use of the bolivar for example when you could have a better hedge at hand.

When we're talking developing countries we will have to take into account emigration and there are always plenty how leave a developing country for a better life in some other ones. I was in that position too. Most of the ones are using remittances service to send money to their families, but often times the fees are pretty high.

When you have blockchain technology at hand for such transfers and also the ability to spend and store BTC why on earth wouldn't you use it? There's already crypto to debit cards, such as the ones that I'm using, that are making spending crypto around as easy as throwing cash around.

The mass adoption for Bitcoin is on a fulfilling path. Add to that the fact that we might be on the verge of having the first Bitcoin ETF approved in the US and we can say we are dealing with a world wide recognized asset class/currency/store of value. I wouldn't put Bitcoin in just a category as I don't see it from just one perspective.

The problem is with stable coins and whether those will be accepted by governments. My take though is that there are already eyes watching what's happening in El Salvador and these eyes are not your so called great economies of the world, but rather the same category with El Salvador. If I were to bet on a country that will accept Bitcoin as a currency next year I'll put my money on Ukraine.

What do you think, are more countries going to adopt Bitcoin as a currency? Which ones do you see following suit with El Salvador?

Thanks for attention, Adrian

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