Steve Hanke, a renowned economist and a vocal Bitcoin (BTC/USD) and crypto critic, claims BTC adoption has been troublesome for El Salvador, which recently embraced the digital asset as legal tender. He shared his sentiments through a tweet earlier today, saying the central American country is having a hard time incorporating BTC payments into its economy and financial system.
The adoption of #Bitcoin as legal tender has been a nightmare for El Salvador’s economy. Citizens regularly face technological difficulties and financial losses. El Salvador’s creditworthiness has also taken a hit – the country’s bonds have been in distress for over a month. pic.twitter.com/Cbf5UrwXzW
— Steve Hanke (@steve_hanke) October 11, 2021
Hanke backed his claims with a chart, indicating El Salvador’s bonds have been fluctuating for over a month.
Hanke compares BTC to an unfriendly dog
Hanke’s tweet came on the heels of another tweet on Sunday, in which the economist said BTC is a speculative asset and that its prices are always a rollercoaster ride. According to him, anyone looking to invest in BTC should brace themselves for the volatility. Hanke also shared a tweet of a dog named Bitcoin, which is not friendly most of the time.
As is the norm, crypto enthusiasts came forward to challenge Hanke’s opinion, with Adam Black, the founder and CEO of Blockstream, saying,
as discussed here before, early S-curve like #bitcoin, or internet stocks cisco, amazon in 90s, volatility is inherent and expected in early stage high Sharpe ratio assets. this is what the HODL meme is about, focus on value investing, long time preference https://t.co/hcOlYJRuPo pic.twitter.com/RggFpwV4my
— Adam Back (@adam3us) October 9, 2021
Black added that BTC features more mathematical assurance compared to fiat currencies which are susceptible to moral hazard, political interference, and debasement.
Whales continue amassing BTC
Despite critics like Hanke continually bashing BTC, enthusiasts are unfazed and have instead accumulated more of the flagship cryptocurrency.
According to Santiment, a crypto analytics company, whale accounts purchased 85,700 BTC over the past two weeks. As a result, whales now hold 21.3% of BTC’s supply. The firm added that this is the highest percentage they have ever had in their possession.
BTC is also trending higher, with the coin breaking past the $56,000.00 (?41,101.48) resistance level yesterday. At the time of writing, BTC is trading at $56,419.98 (?41,409.73) after gaining 2.45% over the past 24 hours and 18.62% in seven days. These gains have brought BTC even closer to its April 14 all-time high (ATH) of $64,863.10 (?47,609.19).
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