First of all, what is the IMF? It stands for International Monetary Fund and it is viewed as the central bank of central bank. The IMF was founded in 1944 in the aftermath of the great depression in order to help stabilize currencies around the world. Some would argue that they offer predatory loans to developing countries and do more harm than good.
Prior to Bitcoin, El Salvador was a dollarized country, meaning they didn’t have their own currency and instead used the US Dollar. El Salvador had no control over their money and were subject to whatever fiscal irresponsibility the US decides upon. El Salvador gets all the inflation involved with money printing and none of the “benefit” involved with stimulus checks and PPP loans. By introducing Bitcoin as legal tender El Salvador doesn’t gain control over their money but rather they gain a money that humans cannot control and cannot manipulate. They gain a money that is transparent and predictable. They gain a money that cannot be printed and debased.
They are urging El Salvador to remove Bitcoin as a legal tender. Why do they care? They care because Bitcoin is the first ever currency outside of the purview of their control and it eliminates their influence in terms of ultimate central planning. Central planning on a global level is not something that is necessary but rather something that has developed through the decades. El Salvador is taking advantage of a monetary system outside the control of humans and buffering themselves from the highly manipulated dollarized global economy. It is a peaceful opting out of the current system and if the IMF doesn’t like it maybe they should just offer a better product. It really is that simple, Bitcoin is a superior financial instrument and every country/company/person will adopt it.
The IMF is scared. They are losing control and there is nothing they can do about it. A country adopting Bitcoin is the first domino to fall in the global order and I would be willing to bet that a second country follows suit this year.
Also, Hillary Clinton, like her or not, issued a similar warning at the end of last year:
"What looks like a very interesting and somewhat exotic effort to literally mine new coins in order to trade with them has the potential for undermining currencies, for undermining the role of the dollar as the reserve currency, for destabilizing nations, perhaps starting with small ones but going much larger," Clinton said, speaking during a panel discussion at the Bloomberg New Economy Forum in Singapore, and adding she hopes "nation-states start paying greater attention to is the rise of cryptocurrency."
The powers that be are starting to realize that Bitcoin undermines the entire traditional financial system and they are scared. They are starting to push back. They are realizing that they cannot stop Bitcoin. If they cannot stop it they are going to try and bully and threaten countries that do not comply. They are going to try and say all the right things to try and scare everyone away but underneath the the hood Bitcoin is already here and it isn’t going anywhere.
Closing thought
Bitcoin offers a better technology for money and you can equate the IMF telling El Salvador to stop using Bitcoin to Blockbuster telling Netflix to stop streaming movies or Sears telling Amazon not to sell products online. One country adopting Bitcoin is awesome, but a second country adds legitimacy. Sit back and enjoy the show these next couple years, and don’t forget to stack some sats.
This is the El Salvadorian Presidents response to the IMF.