Location: El Salvador
Date: Friday 18th June
Project: El Salvador
Role: President

Twenty years ago, El Salvador became a dollarised nation, bringing economic stability to the country and improving the country's potential for investment. However, it did so at the cost of giving up its monetary policy to the US Federal bank.

Two decades later, following the COVID-19, the global economic outlook has changed significantly. As a result, the Fed has taken extreme measures to combat the economic impact of the pandemic and is printing money at previously unseen levels. 

The stimulus packages that help American's do not make their way to dollarised El Salvador, but the people of Salvadorans do suffer the adverse effects of the US debasing the dollar.

Two years ago, Nayib Bukele won a landslide presidential election in El Salvador, becoming the first President since the Salvadoran Civil War who did not represent either of the two major parties.

As the founder of the political party Nuevas Ideas, President Bukele lived up to his reputation when on the 8th of June 2021, El Salvador enacted its Bitcoin Law, making it the first country to adopt bitcoin as a legal tender. The decision has been met with excitement and scepticism. 

Could this bold move be a catalyst for prosperity in El Salvador? And will other nations follow suit, potentially helping billions?

In his first interview since the Bitcoin law was passed, I talked to El Salvador President Nayib Bukele. We discuss the decision to make bitcoin legal tender, education & infrastructure, volcano mining, and why he believes bitcoin is a ‘no-brainer’.

The What Bitcoin Did Podcast

Why El Salvador Made Bitcoin Legal Tender with President Nayib Bukele

Matt Corallo is a Bitcoin Core developer and ​​open-source engineer at Block/Spiral. In this interview, we discuss wallet software, money laundering, and government, decentralisation and privacy, Bitcoin’s big design challenges, and the path forward.

An Existential Threat to Bitcoin with Matt Corallo

Michael Saylor is the CEO of MicroStrategy. In this interview, we discuss ossification, user rights, sovereignty, funding Bitcoin development, the political war over digital asset regulation, and the sly roundabout revolution.

Bitcoin is Forever Money with Michael Saylor

Ben Carman is a co-founder of The Bitcoin Company and contributes to many projects in Bitcoin, and Tony Giorgio is the co-founder and CEO of Mutiny Wallet. In this interview, we discuss the regulatory pressures on bitcoin developers, fighting for inalienable rights, sovereignty and building a robust ecash future.

The Fight for Bitcoin with Ben Carman & Tony Giorgio

Avik Roy is president of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity think tank and a policy Editor at Forbes. In this interview, we discuss why Trump is supporting Bitcoin & crypto, the power of the growing Bitcoin voter base, and the coming fight with regulators.

Bitcoin Back on the Ballot with Avik Roy

Parker Lewis is a Bitcoin writer and educator and Head of Business Development at Zaprite. In this interview, we discuss scaling self-sovereignty vs sound money, code-changes, covenants, and risks in the regulatory, ETF, mining, and social layers.

Bitcoin’s Economic Incentives with Parker Lewis

Zack Voell is the Director of Marketing and Communications at Botanix Labs and Willem Schroe is Co-Founder and CEO at Botanix Labs and the Inventor of the Spiderchain. In this interview, we discuss how and why Botanix are bringing an Ethereum Virtual Machine to Bitcoin, the culture clash and building on Bitcoin.

Everything is Coming to Bitcoin with Zack Voell & Willem Schroe

Tuur Demeester is a Bitcoin investor and economist. In this interview, we discuss government corruption and the spending spiral, the creep of communism, the need to embrace volatility, if we can salvage democracy in a humble revolution, and why 2024 is the year of Bitcoin mass adoption.

The Bitcoin Powered Revolution with Tuur Demeester

Derrick Broze is an investigative journalist, author, documentary filmmaker, and activist. In this interview, we discuss Trump & Bitcoin, the Ross Ulbricht case, the rise of the technocratic state, surveillance & privacy and the AI digital arms race.

The Technocratic State with Derrick Broze

Natalie Smolenski founded and leads the Texas Bitcoin Foundation. In this interview, we discuss AI and its progression towards artificial general intelligence, the implications of AI in warfare, issues of censorship and governance, and the potential for misuse of AI in the future.

The AI Threat to Freedom with Natalie Smolenski

Erik Voorhees is the founder of Satoshi Dice, ShapeShift & Venice.ai. In this interview, we discuss the size and role of government, the growth of Bitcoin & how it can help restrain the power of the state as well as Venice AI and the future of artificial intelligence.

Erik Voorhees on Bitcoin & AI

With What Bitcoin Did, host Peter McCormack talks to experts in the world of Bitcoin, economics and politics. From developers to investors, journalists to authors, you will learn about everything in the world of Bitcoin.

Why El Salvador Made Bitcoin Legal Tender with President Nayib Bukele

What Bitcoin Did with Peter McCormack

Related tracks