Note that Bitcoin adoption in El Salvador is not going particularly smoothly. In particular, the way the cryptocurrency is being promoted has not been approved by Blockchain.com platform vice chairman Nicholas Carey. He said it should be voluntary, not forced. Still, such an approach is inconsistent with the values that decentralised technology propagates.

Vitalik Buterin, the creator of Etherium, holds a similar view. The developer said in a discussion on Reddit that the way Bitcoin is distributed to locals is simply inconsistent with the ideals of freedom. Read more about the views of one of the most popular representatives of the cryptocurrency community in a separate article.

Which countries do not support Bitcoin

Here is a quote from the president from his recent press conference, in which he shared his view of the situation. The line was published by Decrypt.

We are not going to make any reforms in this aspect. We believe that we have to remain orthodox in financial management and not try to introduce too many innovations in this area.

That is, the leader of the country assumes that such innovations are inappropriate in the economy of the whole country. He therefore relies on traditional means of payment and on top of that worries about possible negative uses of crypto. For example, for tax evasion.

President of Mexico Andres Manuel López Obrador

López Obrador said that instead of fundamentally changing the national financial system, the government will focus on developing mechanisms to prevent tax evasion.

We want to make sure that there are no privileges, that everyone pays their taxes and that is enough.

In other words, the president is not in a hurry to innovate yet and does not see a big problem in regulating cryptocurrencies. He believes that the government has enough financial instruments already in place to support the growth of the country's economy. However, not all Mexican politicians agree with his view.

Nuevo Leon state senator Indira Kempis recently welcomed El Salvador’s decision to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender and called for a similar decision in her country. Here’s his rejoinder.

When will Mexico stop stalling innovation in digital assets so that we can solve our problems? Why has El Salvador decided to adopt Bitcoin and we can’t, even though our countries have similar development conditions?

Mexican Senator Indira Kempis

By the way, El Salvador has not stopped with its crypto development. The country has already introduced Pay Me in Bitcoin, a service provided by national cryptocurrency wallet provider Chivo Strike. Transactions to a citizen’s Bitcoin address can now be partially or fully converted into BTC without a fee. Thanks to this feature and the acceptance of the cryptocurrency, Salvadorans can be paid entirely in BTC if they so choose.

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And while politicians are debating, Mexico’s richest people are already actively investing in Bitcoin. Among them is Mexican billionaire and founder of one of the country’s largest banks, Banco Azteca, Ricardo Salinas Pliego. As a reminder, as recently as last year he stated that he holds at least 10 per cent of his liquid investment portfolio in Bitcoin.


We think the contrast between the two countries here is incredible. While one president worries about the prospect of not paying taxes, the other actively supports the spread of digital currencies - albeit not in the best of ways - and even allows Bitcoin to pay his salary. Obviously, it is the second state that will benefit in the long run. Hopefully more countries will follow El Salvador's example.