A couple of weeks ago, El Salvador’s finance minister Alejandro Zelaya shared in an interview with Bloomberg his point of view (and some kind of interim results) on Bitcoin adoption in the country.

The authorities in El Salvador have been widely criticized for making cryptocurrency legal tender (what are the counted losses due to Bitcoin price downfall!). The International Monetary Fund constantly insists on giving up the idea of Bitcoin as means of payment. However, the government seems to have rallied to the innovation in their monetary system, pointing out the advantages of the decision. Just a couple of months ago Dania Gonzalez, Deputy of the Republic of El Salvador, highlighted the benefits El Salvador gets even amid falling cryptocurrency prices. The President of the country announced that the low Bitcoin price would not prevent the government from buying out their sovereign debt in advance.

According to Zelaya, Bitcoin adoption has brought many positive “side effects”. Not only has it provided the unbanked population with financial services, but it also has enhanced tourism and attracted new investments in the country. The minister admitted that the use of cryptocurrency as means of exchange is still low. However, new technologies need time to gain ground and come into our lives.

“We aren’t going to have results overnight. We can’t go to bed poor and wake up millionaires. New technologies have shown how people in previous years were afraid of things like websites and digital business, but it’s been shown through time that reality imposes itself.” Alejandro Zelaya, El Salvador’s Finance Minister

The only thing that had to be postponed because of Bitcoin’s price dive was the issuance of a $1 billion Bitcoin-backed bond, but this is still under constant review by the government, and they are ready to launch this project as soon as market conditions allow: The minister promised to reveal new Bitcoin-related projects in El Salvador soon.

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