El Salvador’s Bitcoin-loving president slams the US. “We are not your colony!”

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has condemned the US for meddling in his county’s internal affairs. Credit: Nayib Bukele via Twitter

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Key Takeaways

US Senators have introduced a legislation to mitige risks from El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption
El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has strongly criticised the three US Senators on Twitter

YEREVAN (CoinChapter.com)- El Salvador’s Bitcoin-loving President Nayib Bukele has hit back U.S. Senators who tabled legislation requiring a State Department report on El Salvador’s adoption of BTC as legal tender. According to U.S. Senators Jim Risch, Bob Menendez, and Bill Cassidy, the tabled legislation, Accountability for Cryptocurrency in El Salvador (ACES) Act, aims at mitigating potential risks to the U.S. financial system from the Central American country.

“OK boomers… You have 0 jurisdiction on a sovereign and independent nation. We are not your colony, your back yard or your front yard. Stay out of our internal affairs. Don’t try to control something you can’t control,”
Bukele wrote on Twitter.

According to Jim Risch, it is not in the interest of the United States to have a trade partner in the continent with potential economic instability caused by El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) as a legal tender. Moreover, the Senator also fears making BTC legal tender has the potential to weaken U.S. sanctions policy. This would help empower actors like China and organized criminal organizations to work against US interests.

His colleague, Louisiana Senator Bill Cassidy had other concerns to voice vis-à-vis El Salvador’s crypto-friendly policy.

“El Salvador recognizing Bitcoin as official currency opens the door for money laundering cartels and undermines U.S. interests. If the United States wishes to combat money laundering and preserve the role of the dollar as a reserve currency of the world, we must tackle this issue head-on,”
Sen Cassidy remarked.

Bukele drags US President Joe Biden in the Bitcoin argument

Following his series of counter-attacks on the Senators, the President of El Salvador did not seem satisfied. He next tweeted an excerpt from a briefing by the US president Joe Biden, where the president insists sovereign nations have the right to choose their destiny.

“Nations have a right to sovereignty and territorial integrity. They have the freedom to set their own course and choose with whom they will associate,”
President Biden says in the video from a briefing.

“This includes El Salvador? Right? Right?”
Bukele asked.

President Bukele also recently hit out at Canada after the country banned a GoFundMe fundraiser, forcing protesting truckers to adopt Bitcoin.

Since adopting Bitcoin (BTC) as a legal tender in El Salvador, Bukele has faced several criticisms. Besides the organized protests in the country, he has locked horns with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). Last month the IMF once again strongly urged Bukele to undo the adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender. To show it means business, the financial institution threatened not to issue any loans to El Salvador if he continues with his Bitcoin-friendly policy.

So far the threats have not worked. On the contrary, El Salvador plans to issue $1 billion in bonds backed by Bitcoin (BTC) this year. So far no country has issued BTC-backed bonds. Time will show if Bukele will win the ‘Bitcoin war’ he has boldly thrown his country in.