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Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele Taunts Steve Hanke, Economist After Bitcoin’s Skyrockets

Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele Taunts Economist Steve Hanke After Bitcoin's Price Skyrockets

On October 15, the day bitcoin’s price surpassed the $60K per unit handle, Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele taunted the professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University, Steve Hanke, over his recent statements. The well-known economist warned that El Salvador was in financial ruin with “Bukele at its helm”. This came after El Salvador’s president purchased the bitcoin dip when it was lower.

3 Weeks Ago Steve Hanke Said ‘With Bukele at the Helm’ His Country Faces ‘Financial Ruin,’ Bukele Responds After Bitcoin Spikes and Says: ‘You Were Saying?’

When El Salvador adopted bitcoin (BTC) during the first week of September, the first day the law was enacted, BTC‘s fiat value dropped a great deal. At that time, Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele told his Twitter followers that El Salvador was “buying the dip” as the country added 150 BTC to its stash. Meanwhile, the professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University, Steve Hanke, has criticized the Salvadoran president and tagged him in a Twitter post on September 23.

“Nayib “Bukele is again playing fast and [loose], with El Salvador’s tax dollars,” Hanke stated. “After bitcoin prices tumbled to a 6wk low, Bukele bought 150 more coins [and] proudly said that ‘We just bought the dip.’ With Bukele at the helm, ELSL faces financial ruin.”

Meanwhile, the leading crypto asset bitcoin (BTC) did fall into a slump in September, but as the month transitioned into October, BTC‘s price skyrocketed. On October 15, Bukele decided to retweet Hanke’s September 23 statement and added a remark of his own. “You were saying?” Bukele tauntingly asked the well known economist. BTC has since been hovering above the $60K price range during the last 24 hours.

The following day, Hanke responded and said: “Yes, I was saying ‘financial ruin.’ Have you checked the price plunge of El Salvador’s dollar-denominated bonds since September 7th?” Hanke asked Bukele. “As the traders say, El Salvador’s bonds due in 2023, 2025, & 2029 are ‘distressed,'” Hanke added.

Hanke Declares “Private, digital money is nothing new” and Claims that “the Case for Cryptocurrency as a Driver Of Innovation Is Thin ‘

Furthermore, the founder of Shapeshift, Erik Voorhees, also responded to Hanke’s tweet on Saturday with an animated GIF that shows goalposts moving. Another individual stated: “Hanke sounds like [the] people who were afraid of electricity in the 19th century.” Hanke has clearly stated that he’s not fond of bitcoin (BTC) many times, and he’s warned about El Salvador’s bitcoin adoption in June.

At that time, Hanke said he didn’t think it’s a good idea for the Latin American country to use bitcoin as legal tender and he further added that the decision could “completely collapse the economy.” Despite his angst toward bitcoin, the economist has said in the past that central banks fuel wealth loss and the world could use less of them. Hanke supports the creation of currency boards. These currency boards essentially leverage monetary authority to maintain an exchange rate with foreign currencies.

In more recent times, Hanke has said that “private, digital money is nothing new. Hanke asserts that most money has been created privately over the past decades in digital form. In an opinion editorial published via the National Review, Hanke stressed that “the case for crypto as a driver of innovation is thin.”

What do you think about Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele provoking Steve Hanke to respond? Are you in agreement with Nayib or with Steve Hanke? Please comment below to let us know your thoughts on this topic.

This story contains tags

Bitcoin (BTC), Bitcoin adoption, bonds, BTC, BTC adoption, Central Banks, Crypto, Cryptocurrency, Currency Boards, economics, Economist Steve Hanke, Economy, El Salvador, Erik Vorhees, Johns Hopkins University, Latin American country, Nayib Bukele, President Bukele, Steve Hanke

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