We have lived in El Salvador for almost 9 months now. There was definitely an adjustment period. The road has been at times a little rocky and exciting all at the same time. My wife and I have battled a little bit during this adjustment period but we have grown closer together from our experience together. I understand her more now and I believe she understands me more as well. In the end, both of us now agree that this is the place where we want to live. Maybe the adjustment period we just experienced together was a detoxification that needed to happen. I don’t know. The experience has been profound.
When most including myself heard that El Salvador was the first country to declare that Bitcoin was legal tender, no one really had this on their radar. Why El Salvador? Most people knew of El Salvador from negative press, not positive ones.
President Bukele embodies everything that Bitcoin represents. He’s relatively young. He is a true leader. He is humble and very smart. His policies represent the people that he has sworn to serve and protect. The Salvadoran people have been through a lot over the years. This is a huge understatement by the way. Through all this, they are hard working, very polite and humble. El Salvador has shown the world what can really be accomplished when leaders put the interests of their law abiding citizens over the interests of those who are not law abiding and choose to do harm. Countries are taking notice.
When viewed from this lens, what other country better represents the ethos of Bitcoin than El Salvador? In my opinion, none. In many ways, El Salvador should have been the natural choice to be the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender given the data points above.
Yes, there is still lots of work that needs to happen yet. There are still many big problems that need to be solved. It is important to look at the progress that has been made. Look at where El Salvador is today compared to 5 years ago. When one zooms out a little, perspective returns, just like with Bitcoin. We all want the changes to happen immediately but that is not realistic. If it were that simple, some one would have already done it. PoW is a real thing.
El Salvador will succeed. It is destined to succeed. If El Salvador succeeds, it is a hugely positive development for the world and all the humans that inhabit Earth. This is why we live in El Salvador. We want to contribute to this success in whatever way we can, no matter how small or how big.
