Beautiful Virgin Islands

Sunday, Jul 20, 2025

As El Salvador Makes Cryptocurrency Legal Tender is It the Beginning of the End for Dollar Hegemony?

As El Salvador Makes Cryptocurrency Legal Tender is It the Beginning of the End for Dollar Hegemony?

The idea of cryptocurrency was first conceived in the 1980s but it was not until 2009 that the first open-sourced software, Bitcoin, was released. There are now dozens of blockchains but they have until not been regarded as legal tender.

El Salvador will make history on Tuesday, 7 September, when it becomes the first country in the world where cryptocurrency is officially legal tender and can be used to buy a house or a car or even to pay your taxes.

Supporters of cryptocurrency hope it could mark the beginning of the end of the "dollar hegemony."

In 2019, the dollar was responsible for 88 percent of global trade but cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin could offer an alternative, especially for smaller countries who are prone to economic bullying.

A poll by the Central American University, published on Thursday 2 September, found two-thirds of Salvadoreans were opposed to allowing cryptocurrencies to be legal tender, although it appeared to be driven by ignorance.


​Of 1,281 people surveyed nine out of 10 people did not have a clear understanding of how Bitcoin worked and 70 percent thought the government should repeal the law, passed in June, allowing it to be legal tender.

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele, who proposed the idea, believes cryptocurrency can help boost jobs and economic development by making the country less reliant on US dollars.

Unemployment is around seven percent in El Salvador but the majority of the population live on low wages and grinding poverty, as well as high levels of crime, have persuaded tens of thousands to head north to the “promised land” of the United States.

The sun rises as asylum-seeking migrants' families from Honduras and El Salvador walk towards the border wall after crossing the Rio Grande river into the United States from Mexico on a raft, in Penitas, Texas, U.S., March 26, 2021


There are 1.5 million Salvadoreans in the US, compared to six million in El Salvador itself, and another 40,000 live in Honduras, Guatemala or Mexico, often having abandoned the migrant journey north.

Seven out of 10 people in El Salvador do not have bank accounts and President Bukele believes cryptocurrency will make it easier for migrants in the US to send remittances back to their family without having to pay the charges demanded by banks and firms like Western Union.

Remittances - around US$4 billion a year - makes up around a fifth of the country's GDP.


Mr Bukele, a former businessman of Palestinian origin, has portrayed the cryptocurrency move as a way for El Salvador to dig itself out of its economic mire.

"This will improve lives and the future of millions," Mr Bukele told a Bitcoin conference in Florida in June.

President Nayib Bukele holds his ballots as he prepares to vote in local and legislative elections, at a polling station in San Salvador, El Salvador, Sunday, Feb. 28, 2021


But the UCA survey found most Salvadoreans think foreign investors and the country’s wealthy elite will be the only beneficiaries.

"The dean of UCA, Andreu Oliva, said: "What we can see in this survey, in addition to this broad rejection of the implementation of Bitcoin as legal tender, is that for the first time we found a significant disagreement between the population and decisions being made by the Legislative Assembly and the president.There is a lot of concern about the possible negative effects of using Bitcoin."


But if cryptocurrency works in El Salvador, and if it boosts the economy and draws in inward investment, then it could well be copied by other impoverished states like Honduras, Haiti, Zimbabwe, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

Newsletter

Related Articles

Beautiful Virgin Islands
0:00
0:00
Close
NVIDIA Achieves $4 Trillion Valuation Amid AI Demand
US Revokes Visas of Brazilian Corrupted Judges Amid Fake Bolsonaro Investigation
U.S. Congress Approves Rescissions Act Cutting Federal Funding for NPR and PBS
North Korea Restricts Foreign Tourist Access to New Seaside Resort
Brazil's Supreme Court Imposes Radical Restrictions on Former President Bolsonaro
Centrist Criticism of von der Leyen Resurfaces as she Survives EU Confidence Vote
Judge Criticizes DOJ Over Secrecy in Dropping Charges Against Gang Leader
Apple Closes $16.5 Billion Tax Dispute With Ireland
Von der Leyen Faces Setback Over €2 Trillion EU Budget Proposal
UK and Germany Collaborate on Global Military Equipment Sales
Trump Plans Over 10% Tariffs on African and Caribbean Nations
Flying Taxi CEO Reclaims Billionaire Status After Stock Surge
Epstein Files Deepen Republican Party Divide
Zuckerberg Faces $8 Billion Privacy Lawsuit From Meta Shareholders
FIFA Pressured to Rethink World Cup Calendar Due to Climate Change
SpaceX Nears $400 Billion Valuation With New Share Sale
Microsoft, US Lab to Use AI for Faster Nuclear Plant Licensing
Trump Walks Back Talk of Firing Fed Chair Jerome Powell
Zelensky Reshuffles Cabinet to Win Support at Home and in Washington
"Can You Hit Moscow?" Trump Asked Zelensky To Make Putin "Feel The Pain"
Irish Tech Worker Detained 100 days by US Authorities for Overstaying Visa
Dimon Warns on Fed Independence as Trump Administration Eyes Powell’s Succession
Church of England Removes 1991 Sexuality Guidelines from Clergy Selection
Superman Franchise Achieves Success with Latest Release
Hungary's Viktor Orban Rejects Agreements on Illegal Migration
Jeff Bezos Considers Purchasing Condé Nast as a Wedding Gift
Ghislaine Maxwell Says She’s Ready to Testify Before Congress on Epstein’s Criminal Empire
Bal des Pompiers: A Celebration of Community and Firefighter Culture in France
FBI Chief Kash Patel Denies Resignation Speculations Amid Epstein List Controversy
Air India Pilot’s Mental Health Records Under Scrutiny
Google Secures Windsurf AI Coding Team in $2.4 Billion Licence Deal
Jamie Dimon Warns Europe Is Losing Global Competitiveness and Flags Market Complacency
South African Police Minister Suspended Amid Organised Crime Allegations
Nvidia CEO Claims Chinese Military Reluctance to Use US AI Technology
Hong Kong Advances Digital Asset Strategy to Address Economic Challenges
Australia Rules Out Pre‑commitment of Troops, Reinforces Defence Posture Amid US‑China Tensions
Martha Wells Says Humanity Still Far from True Artificial Intelligence
Nvidia Becomes World’s First Four‑Trillion‑Dollar Company Amid AI Boom
U.S. Resumes Deportations to Third Countries After Supreme Court Ruling
Excavation Begins at Site of Mass Grave for Children at Former Irish Institution
Iranian President Reportedly Injured During Israeli Strike on Secret Facility
EU Delays Retaliatory Tariffs Amid New U.S. Threats on Imports
Trump Defends Attorney General Pam Bondi Amid Epstein Memo Backlash
Renault Shares Drop as CEO Luca de Meo Announces Departure Amid Reports of Move to Kering
Senior Aides for King Charles and Prince Harry Hold Secret Peace Summit
Anti‑Semitism ‘Normalised’ in Middle‑Class Britain, Says Commission Co‑Chair
King Charles Meets David Beckham at Chelsea Flower Show
If the Department is Really About Justice: Ghislaine Maxwell Should Be Freed Now
NYC Candidate Zohran Mamdani’s ‘Antifada’ Remarks Spark National Debate on Political Language and Economic Policy
President Trump Visits Flood-Ravaged Texas, Praises Community Strength and First Responders
×