El Salvador has been making huge headlines as of late. The country is among the first to declare bitcoin – the world’s number one digital currency by market cap – legal tender, meaning it can now be used to purchase items and services in the same way one might use fiat, credit cards, or even checks.
El Salvador Might Be Doing Something Right
However, the country has experienced some serious rollout issues, between people protesting that they don’t want life to change to the Chivo wallet crashing within hours of being implemented into El Salvador’s financial system. In addition, institutions such as the World Bank have refused to aid the country in the implementation of its bitcoin agenda.
Despite all these issues and more, many individuals and companies are sticking up for El Salvador, commending its bravery and its desire to ensure innovation and financial independence thrive within its borders.
One of the people praising the country the most is Denelle Dixon, the CEO and executive director of the Stellar Development Foundation. In a recent interview, she commented that this recent move from El Salvador is going to put it at the front of the line when it comes to financial growth. She also believes that this will make other countries follow suit, and that in the not-so-distant future, many additional forms of crypto – including stable currencies – will be utilized to pay for goods and services.
She states:
Any country that decides [crypto] is going to be legal tender sort of changes the idea of the digital coin from just being a thing that is ‘out there’ that only a certain segment of the population focuses on, to something that everyone needs to pay attention to. Getting this right is important.
She said that two of the biggest problems El Salvador is likely to face in the coming weeks will involve trust and volatility. She said it is extremely difficult to use bitcoin for purchase options at this time given how much the currency’s price hops up and down. She also mentioned that until people fully trust the asset, the currency is going to experience serious hurdles and delays and given how many protests have occurred in the streets of El Salvador over the past month, it is clear many are still not open to giving BTC a try.
Stable Coins A Better Option?
She also stated that many countries are likely to benefit if they permit stable coin payments, given that they are tied to fiat currencies and thus do not incur the same swings that bitcoin, Ethereum, and other more mainstream forms of cryptocurrency experience. She stated:
They’re not volatile. They don’t have the challenges associated with other cryptocurrencies. The transfer happens pretty seamlessly, and in three to five seconds, it’s done.
