The Breakdown - Elon Shitposting While El Salvador's President Addressed the Nation About Bitcoin Is Peak 2021

Starting point is 00:00:04 Welcome back to The Breakdown with me, NLW. It's a daily podcast on macro, Bitcoin, and the big picture power shifts remaking our world. The breakdown is sponsored by nexo.io and circle and produced and distributed by CoinDesk. What's going on, guys? It is Friday, June 25th, and man, did we have a quintessential moment last night? An audible hush had fallen over Bitcoin Twitter, as El Salvador's President Naibu Kelle began an address to his nation distributed over radio, YouTube, and beyond. Peter McCormick pulled in Bitcoin Beach's Mike Peterson to translate it live as it was happening via Twitter spaces. Numerous Spanish-speaking Bitcoiners were threading the key aspects of the

Starting point is 00:00:50 conversation. And then there was Elon, shit posting away, having himself a merry old time. It was, at least for Bitcoiners, absolutely peak 2021. On one end of the spectrum, a nation on the verge of showing the power of Bitcoin for economic empowerment and change. On the other, an eccentric billionaire who remains invested in Bitcoin despite seemingly to delight mostly in triggering its most ardent supporters. Anyway, let's talk about the Elon side of the equation before we get to the much more useful, relevant El Salvador news. Jack Dorsey posted about an event that was just announced. The event is called the B-word, how institutions can embrace Bitcoin. It's sponsored by the Crypto Council for Innovation, arc-invest, square, and paradigm. The description on the website reads,

Starting point is 00:01:38 The B-word is a Bitcoin-focused initiative that aims to demystify and destigmatize mainstream narratives about Bitcoin, explain how institutions can and should embrace it, and raise awareness around areas of the network that need support. Jack added in his tweet, the Bitcoin development community above all else. As more companies and institutions get into the mix, we all want to help protect and spread what makes Bitcoin open development so perfect. This day is focused on education and actions to do just that. The event has four tracks, demystifying Bitcoin, supporting the developer ecosystem, securing the Bitcoin network and regulating Bitcoin, along with a live session called Bitcoin

Starting point is 00:02:17 as a tool for economic empowerment. Still, what Elon decided to focus on was the name, the B word. In response to Jack's tweet, Elon wrote, By Curious? Oh, right, Bitcoin. Ha ha. At the same time, he popped over to his own feed to drop this app. absolute stunner of a joke. How many Maxis does it take to screw in a light bulb? That's not funny, Bitcoin Maxis. Jack Dorsey, graceful as ever responded to Elon's quip on his B-word post saying, Bizarre. Let's you and I have a conversation at the event. You can share all your curiosities.

Starting point is 00:02:49 Elon responds, LMFAO, OMG. Jack responds. Let's have THE talk. Then Elon again? For the bit curious? Very well then. Let's do it. Winky face. Jack says, done. We'll set up. And count. Kathy Wood from Arc gets the final word, saying, brilliant, looking forward to the discussion. So there are two possibilities here. The first is that it was totally organic and unplanned. Could totally happen. Weird crap happens on Twitter all the time. The other possibility, though, is that Kathy Wood, who is one of the biggest shareholders of Square and Tesla, who has been a defender of Elon for years through thick and thin, who is also one of the earliest Bitcoin adopters on Wall Street, and who has been in a position for the last few months to defend Elon saying it's really E. SG's fault and he'll come around, finally got sick of this, mommed the hell out, and told Elon to

Starting point is 00:03:38 STFU and start helping and organize the whole thing. I know which of these possibilities I'm betting on. And if I'm right, that makes it an even more peak 2021 moment, as we had to use Elon's weird jokes as part of getting attention for an institutional Bitcoin event. Looking for the best way to unlock your crypto's liquidity? Nexo.io is exactly what you need. borrow against your digital assets at just 6.9% APR, earn passive income with yields of up to 12%, and swap between more than 100 market pairs with the Instant Nexo Exchange. Try the Nexo Wallet app to get the whole 360 degrees of crypto banking. Get started at nexo.io. That's nexo.io to get started today.

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Starting point is 00:05:07 Well, the initial reaction to the El Salvador news was jubilation among Bitcoiners. There have been some questions. For international observers, particularly those invested in the current fiat system, the concerns around environment and crime that you would expect were all aired out. Libertarian-minded global audiences, meanwhile, took umbrage with the compulsion inherent in the legal tender law. These folks argued in effect that forcing people to accept Bitcoin was at odds with Bitcoin.

Starting point is 00:05:33 Locally, it seemed some people had these same concerns, although it was less from some deep-seated libertarian principles, and more from practical questions about how it would actually work, what sort of additional infrastructure or processes it would take, and what if someone didn't want to deal with Bitcoin volatility? I think the best way to give you the flavor of last night's speech is to actually use pull quotes as translated by Alejandro Machado. Alejandro is a co-founder of the Open Money Initiative

Starting point is 00:05:58 and has been working on Bitcoin in places like Venezuela for years, so is a particularly good source. He tweets, Bukle's address to the nation thread. Quote, Bitcoin will be optional. Nobody will receive Bitcoin if they don't want it. There's no obligation to express any price in Bitcoin, but it's possible to do so. The state will accept Bitcoin for payments if you don't want to do this, don't. Bitcoin is currency, so there will now be no capital gains taxes on it, same as with dollars, euros, etc. Now, Article 7 that the opposition has demonized so much, every economic agent must accept Bitcoin as a means of payment. We can't. We can't can't take this article out of context. You also have to look at Article 8 and 14.

Starting point is 00:06:35 Economic agents are obligated to accept Bitcoin, but not to accept it. When a tourist from Europe comes and swipes a card, he or she will be spending euros, but we are charging him dollars. This is what will happen with Bitcoin. A tourist may pay in BTC, and if the merchant wants dollars, it will get dollars. The government wallet will have two accounts, one in dollars and another in Bitcoin. The government wallet will not use up any data. All you need to use the government wallet is a mobile internet signal. You will have to enter your ID and your phone number to access the government wallet. Everyone that opens an account at the government wallet will receive $30 worth of Bitcoin in Bitcoin. You'll also be able to deposit dollars of Bitcoin to your wallet

Starting point is 00:07:12 and draw money from an ATM, although this is hardly necessary because the app is safer and faster. Why this law? Because the Bitcoin market cap is over $600 billion. Therefore, investors and tourists will come here to benefit the economy. In El Salvador, there are already about 50,000 people using Bitcoin, beyond Elzante. Miguel, the coconut salesman, can always take payment from Steve the tourist who wants to pay in Bitcoin, even if he wants to receive dollars. If he sets the price at $2, he can charge Steve, who will spend Bitcoin. The government will make sure Miguel gets $2, not $195. If Miguel now wants to pay Sicilia in dollars, he will be able to use the government wallet to do it. Hundreds of companies around the world make wallets. The government will offer one, but the people of El Salvador are also free

Starting point is 00:07:53 to use others. If Aunt Rosita is in the U.S., she can send $30 to Miguel, who, is in El Salvador. Miguel will receive $30 instantly without needing to queue and for free. There are no minimums. It can be 50 cents. It can be $1,000. It works at any time, 24-7. There are no intermediaries. The wallet is called Chivo. You'll need to register with your ID and your phone number. It will have facial recognition or verifying via call center. This is for your own safety. If you lose your phone or it gets stolen, you can easily use another phone to recover your account, so it's a lot safer than cash or debit cards. Upon registration, everyone will receive $30 worth of Bitcoin. It's It's a government bonus. Why this bonus? To promote the use of Bitcoin and for people to have an

Starting point is 00:08:31 incentive to use the government wallet. Anyone can buy or sell Bitcoin using the wallet. Can you make money? Yes. Can you lose money? Yes. It's up to you and your risk appetite. So as you can tell, we got many more details about the specifics of the program, how they'll roll it out, how they'll make it available for people. But I think perhaps the most notable new detail is that the government will be giving out $30 in Bitcoin to any adult citizens that download and get verified by the official government wallet. If applied to every citizen that would equal around 3,440 BTC or around $117 million worth.

Starting point is 00:09:04 Chow Wang called it the most important air drop ever, and I think that's pretty spot on. It will represent a chance for a huge number of people to actually see what this Bitcoin thing is about and whether it can help them. As part of that, more infrastructure is also coming online. Athena Bitcoin intends to invest $1 million to introduce up to 1,500 ATMs in the region, according to a recent Reuters report. The firm's director for Latin America said that the president,

Starting point is 00:09:28 quote, presented us with a tough challenge of 1,500 ATMs. We will go for that, but in phases. We are a private company and we want to ensure that our development in the country is sustainable. This wasn't the only Latin American and South American Bitcoin news this week either. On Thursday, Bitcoiners started tweeting that Paraguay had introduced a bill to make Bitcoin legal tender, just like in El Salvador. The source was a Euro News article, but when people dug in a little deeper, there actually was no new news. Carlos Reala, the same Paraguayan lawmaker who took on the laser eyes when El Salvador's law passed, simply restated that he would be introducing a bill in the country's national Congress in July. The draft legislation will be produced on July 14th.

Starting point is 00:10:06 I haven't read yet a convincing analysis one way or another about whether it is likely to pass. I don't want to diminish excitement about the prospects of another geopolitical domino, but I also do want people to recognize that a congressman introducing a bill is a very different thing than an extraordinarily popular sitting president using that power to create a national mandate. However, one more real Bitcoin thing that happened with our southern neighbors. Brazil is listing their first Bitcoin ETF. The ETF is from QR Capital and has started trading on the Sao Paulo-based B3 exchange. Now, I said way back when the El Salvador news first broke that one of the things that got me

Starting point is 00:10:42 most excited is that we're increasingly in a time when the arguments about Bitcoin's potential as an economic empowerment tool are no longer theoretical. They're being tested in the bastion of reality and real markets. I am, of course, hoping for the absolute best, and I hope President Buceli continues to take the time to listen to questions, particularly those from inside his citizenry. For now, guys, let me know what you think about what you heard last night. Does it allay your concerns? Does it increase your concerns?

Starting point is 00:11:09 Hit me up on Twitter at NLW. And as always, I appreciate you listening. Until tomorrow, guys, be safe and take care of each other. Peace.

The Breakdown - Elon Shitposting While El Salvador's President Addressed the Nation About Bitcoin Is Peak 2021

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