🌴 Bitcoin in El Salvador: one year later

🌴 Bitcoin in El Salvador: one year later ☔ Ethereum miners sell off 17,000 ETH amidst price decline 🃏 U.S. judge orders Tether to produce financial records

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🌴 Bitcoin in El Salvador: one year later☔ Ethereum miners sell off 17,000 ETH amidst price decline 🃏 U.S. judge orders Tether to produce financial records

Bitcoin in El Salvador: one year later

It was a year ago that El Salvador became the pioneer in making Bitcoin a legal tender. President Nayib Bukele at that time was very enthusiastic about the initiative as he thought it would bring in lots of foreign investments, create new jobs and be a step in the right direction for humanity. But what really happened?

A year on, it seems that not much has changed. There's still no widespread adoption of Bitcoin in El Salvador and the general population remains largely unaware of its existence. There are a few businesses that accept Bitcoin, but most people still use cash or card for their everyday transactions.

The government has also been slow to roll out any infrastructure or regulations around Bitcoin, so it's still very much in a legal grey area.

Bukele's idea was to create a "Bitcoin City" - a special economic zone where businesses would be exempt from taxes and regulations. There were also plans to issue $1 billion worth of government bonds to fund the project, with half of the money being used to buy Bitcoin, though Salvadoreans should probably be happy that this never happened.

During this time, Bukele purchased around 1,391 BTC for at least $51,056 per coin, according to Bloomberg, which means he lost at least half of the taxpayer's money when Bitcoin's price crashed.

All in all, the whole Bitcoin experiment in El Salvador has been a bit of a flop. It is pretty clear that Bukele's grandiose plans have not materialized and the cryptocurrency has not had the transformative effect that was promised. As for now, it seems that Bitcoin is just another currency in El Salvador, albeit one that is not very widely used.

According to a recent survey, 30 percent of respondents said the economic situation worsened during Bukele’s third year in office, compared with about 13 percent the year before. This is likely due in part to the recent pandemic, but also to government policies that have led to high inflation and a loss of jobs.

So it seems that the Bitcoin experiment has not been the magic solution to all of El Salvador's problems. This is probably not because Bitcoin is a bad technology, but because it was hyped up as a panacea for everything that ails the country. In reality, it is just another tool that can be used for good or ill, depending on how it is implemented. At this point, we can just hope that the government of El Salvador will learn from this experience and use crypto more wisely in the future.

Ethereum miners sell off 17,000 ETH amidst price decline

Ethereum miners have been selling their ETH tokens in droves over the last week, further adding to the downward pressure on Ethereum's price.

This is hardly surprising, given that the Merge left miners without a job, and with the Ethereum price in freefall, they need to cash out while they still can. Trading View data shows that since the Merge, ETH has fallen from $1,650 to its current price of $1,330. Also according to Oklink, ETH miners sold nearly 17,000 ETH over the last week.

Other potential factors being considered include the panic selling initiated by investors ahead of the Federal Reserve’s two-day meetings. The fed is expected to announce another interest rate hike, which could trigger more selling in cryptocurrencies. This has been a pattern in the past, with investors selling cryptocurrencies ahead of an expected interest rate hike announcement, only to buy them back after the announcement has been made.

Nevertheless, the drop in the value of ETH is anticipated to gradually halt over time as the market becomes accustomed to the selling pressure and key economic factors have had a chance to play themselves out in order to eliminate weaker areas of the market.

So, hang in there, hodlers. The storm will eventually pass.

U.S. judge orders Tether to produce financial Records

Is Tether (USDT) really just a big conspiracy to pump the price of Bitcoin (BTC)? That's what some people are claiming, and now a U.S. judge has ordered the issuer to produce financial records related to USDT backing.

Critics have long claimed that USDT is not actually backed 1-to-1 by U.S. dollars, as Tether claims. If that's the case, then it's possible that Tether has been printing USDT out of thin air in order to buy Bitcoin and drive up the price.

Of course, there's no evidence that this is actually happening. (What a shocker, right?) But if Tether is forced to produce its financial records, we may finally get some answers. Or at least we'll get the critics to shut up for a little while.

To put it simply, Tether is being asked to produce a whole lot of paperwork. This includes everything from ledgers and balance sheets to statements on cash flow and profit and loss. Basically, any financial records that relate to USDT or cryptocommodities transactions need to be handed over.

On top of that, Tether also needs to provide details on any trades or transfers of cryptocurrency or other stablecoins that it has made. This includes information on the timeline of the trades, as well as any accounts that Tether holds at crypto exchanges like Bitfinex, Bittrex, and Poloniex.

In short, the order is a huge headache for Tether. And it's not clear how the company will be able to comply. We can only hope that they have a team of accountants on standby because they're going to need all the help they can get.