[WSMDiscuss] [REDlistserve] El Salvador looks to become first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender
francine mestrum
mestrum at skynet.be
Tue Jun 8 16:33:36 CEST 2021
please do not ignore the gigantic energy consumption it requires.
Francine
On 08/06/2021 12:00, Rosamma Thomas via WSM-Discuss wrote:
> https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/08/bitcoin-btc-price-slides-as-us-seizes-most-of-colonial-ransom.html?__source=sharebar|twitter&par=sharebar
> <https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/08/bitcoin-btc-price-slides-as-us-seizes-most-of-colonial-ransom.html?__source=sharebar|twitter&par=sharebar>
>
> On Tue, Jun 8, 2021 at 3:27 PM helena <h.paul at gn.apc.org
> <mailto:h.paul at gn.apc.org>> wrote:
>
> Just quick thoughts:
> I would call cryptocurrencies ultimate capitalism. Currencies in
> markets change value all the time. The changes with crypto are so
> much bigger.
> 'Blockchain makes decentralisation possible….' Yes for those who
> are in, not for those who are outside that blockchain.
> I think Iran found its electricity supply seriously depleted
> because crypto-operators had moved in – this is a real problem.
> El Salvador is a fearsome regime, isn’t it, with people fleeing
> from it constantly?
> Helena
>
>
> From: <radical_ecological_democracy at googlegroups.com
> <mailto:radical_ecological_democracy at googlegroups.com>> on behalf
> of Ashish Kothari <ashishkothari at riseup.net
> <mailto:ashishkothari at riseup.net>>
> Date: Tuesday, 8 June 2021 at 10:46
> To: James Pochury <jamespoch at gmail.com <mailto:jamespoch at gmail.com>>
> Cc: Post WSMDiscuss <wsm-discuss at lists.openspaceforum.net
> <mailto:wsm-discuss at lists.openspaceforum.net>>, Post RED
> <radical_ecological_democracy at googlegroups.com
> <mailto:radical_ecological_democracy at googlegroups.com>>
> Subject: Re: [REDlistserve] El Salvador looks to become first
> country in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender
>
> But what about this? (and there are many more such reports):
>
> https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/feb/27/bitcoin-mining-electricity-use-environmental-impact
> <https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/feb/27/bitcoin-mining-electricity-use-environmental-impact>
>
>
> Democracy that comes at a huge ecological cost is not, well,
> democracy! But, like Jai, then I don't understand much about all
> this, so perhaps someoen can enlighten.
>
> Also, are all cryptocurrencies likely to cause such ecological
> impacts, or are some different ...and if so, how?
>
> I also did not understand this, James: "blockchain is a network of
> millions of computers .... makes decentralisation possible" ...
> and then "authoritarian regimes don't want to let in existing
> cryptos ... would ratehr create their own Blockchain & crypto
> currency" ... now is blockchain/cryptos are inherently
> decentralised, would not authoritarian regimes risk their own
> power by setting up their own?
>
> Finally, do any of these fundamentally challenge capitalism (and
> in the above qs, statism), or are they 'reforms' within the
> existing structures?
>
> thanks to anyone, who can respond to these qs.
>
> ashish
>
> On 08/06/21 3:03 pm, James Pochury wrote:
>> One bitcoin had almost touched 50,000 USD. Right now it is
>> hovering around 36,000. You can own a fraction of bitcoin,
>> including by giving a fraction to the 70% of the informal economy
>> and over a period of time, the value increases benefitting them.
>>
>> There are atleast 5000 cryptocurrencies and counting. Etherium is
>> at no. 2 in terms of value.
>>
>> The decentralised nature of cryptocurrency, with crowdfunding
>> approach in many cases, makes it a viable and political project
>> with huge potential for the masses.
>>
>> Blockchain technology is the engine that drives cryptocurrency.
>> Blockchain is a network of millions of computers across the world
>> wired together through a software platform. Blockchain makes
>> decentralisation possible. A reason why authoritarian regimes
>> don't want to let in existing cryptos into their countries. They
>> would rather create their own Blockchain and crypto currency.
>>
>> Blockchain is also poised to be used for many other sectors,
>> including financial, health, educational institutions,
>> communications, transportation, trade, etc.
>>
>> James
>>
>> On Tue, 8 Jun 2021, 02:01 Jai Sen, <jai.sen at cacim.net
>> <mailto:jai.sen at cacim.net>> wrote:
>>
>> Monday, June 7, 2021
>>
>> *El Salvador in movement…, **Ideas in movement…, **History in
>> movement…, Economies in movement…*
>>
>> [I know nothing about Bitcoin, and my last attempt – this
>> last weekend - to try to understand (by reading an article on
>> it) resulted in my bailing out. But that’s not the point : A
>> day later, I see this article, and the part that interests me
>> is the social (and political) basis on which E; Salvador’s
>> President is selling his move : */That it will “include” the
>> “70% of El Salvador’s population does not have a bank account
>> and works in the informal economy”/*. Any comments, from
>> those who understand this field ? Because it seems to me
>> that the implications, and repercussions, of this step are
>> huge, for economies – and rulers - across the world :
>>
>> “Next week I will send to Congress a bill that will make
>> Bitcoin a legal tender in El Salvador,” Bukele said in the
>> message Saturday. “In the short term this will generate jobs
>> and help provide financial inclusion to thousands outside the
>> formal economy and in the medium and long term we hope that
>> this small decision can help us push humanity at least a tiny
>> bit into the right direction.”
>>
>> The U.S. dollar is El Salvador’s official currency. About one
>> quarter of El Salvador’s citizens live in the United States
>> and last year, despite the pandemic, they sent home more than
>> $6 billion in remittances.
>>
>> Stephen McKeon, a finance professor at the University of
>> Oregon who studies cryptocurrencies, said Bitcoin is legal to
>> own in most countries but has never been designated as legal
>> tender, which would mean it could be used to to settle
>> financial obligations, including taxes.
>>
>> But, he added, “It is unclear whether anyone desires to pay
>> their taxes in Bitcoin.”
>>
>> Additional details of the plan were not released. But Bukele
>> in subsequent messages on Twitter noted that Bitcoin could be
>> “the fastest growing way to transfer six billion dollars a
>> year in remittances.” He said that a big chunk of those money
>> transfers were currently lost to intermediaries and with
>> Bitcoin more than a million low-income families could benefit.
>>
>> He also said 70% of El Salvador’s population does not have a
>> bank account and works in the informal economy. Bitcoin could
>> improve financial inclusion, he said.
>>
>> *El Salvador looks to become first country in the world to
>> adopt bitcoin as legal tender*
>>
>> Associated Press
>>
>> https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/international-business/article-el-salvador-president-plans-to-make-bitcoin-legal-tender/?symbol=print-msg
>> <https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/international-business/article-el-salvador-president-plans-to-make-bitcoin-legal-tender/?symbol=print-msg>
>>
>> El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, pictured after a news
>> conference in San Salvador on June 6, 2021, wants to make
>> Bitcoin legal tender in his country. (JOSE CABEZAS/Reuters)
>>
>>
>> El Salvador President Nayib Bukele announced in a recorded
>> message played at a Bitcoin conference in Miami that next
>> week he will send proposed legislation to the country’s
>> congress that would make the cryptocurrency legal tender in
>> the Central American nation.
>>
>> The 39-year-old president, who has maintained approval
>> ratings above 90% and made Twitter his preferred way of
>> communicating, characterized it as an idea that could help El
>> Salvador move forward.
>>
>> “Next week I will send to Congress a bill that will make
>> Bitcoin a legal tender in El Salvador,” Bukele said in the
>> message Saturday. “In the short term this will generate jobs
>> and help provide financial inclusion to thousands outside the
>> formal economy and in the medium and long term we hope that
>> this small decision can help us push humanity at least a tiny
>> bit into the right direction.”
>>
>> The U.S. dollar is El Salvador’s official currency. About one
>> quarter of El Salvador’s citizens live in the United States
>> and last year, despite the pandemic, they sent home more than
>> $6 billion in remittances.
>>
>> Stephen McKeon, a finance professor at the University of
>> Oregon who studies cryptocurrencies, said Bitcoin is legal to
>> own in most countries but has never been designated as legal
>> tender, which would mean it could be used to to settle
>> financial obligations, including taxes.
>>
>> But, he added, “It is unclear whether anyone desires to pay
>> their taxes in Bitcoin.”
>>
>> Bukele’s New Ideas party holds a supermajority in the new
>> congress seated May 1, giving any legislative proposal from
>> the president a strong likelihood of passage.
>>
>> Additional details of the plan were not released. But Bukele
>> in subsequent messages on Twitter noted that Bitcoin could be
>> “the fastest growing way to transfer six billion dollars a
>> year in remittances.” He said that a big chunk of those money
>> transfers were currently lost to intermediaries and with
>> Bitcoin more than a million low-income families could benefit.
>>
>> He also said 70% of El Salvador’s population does not have a
>> bank account and works in the informal economy. Bitcoin could
>> improve financial inclusion, he said.
>>
>> Riding his high popularity and his party’s dominance
>> performance in Feb. 28 elections, Bukele has concentrated
>> power. His party’s supermajority in congress ousted the
>> justices of the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court
>> May 1. They then replaced the attorney general.
>>
>> They had been critical of some of Bukele’s more drastic
>> measures during the pandemic, including a mandatory
>> stay-at-home order and containment centres where those caught
>> violating the policy were detained.
>>
>> While enjoying a positive relationship with former U.S.
>> President Donald Trump, Bukele has had a much more tense
>> relationship with the administration of President Joe Biden.
>>
>> Last month, the White House Special Envoy for the Northern
>> Triangle Ricardo Zuniga said during a visit to El Salvador
>> that the U.S. government would like to see El Salvador
>> reverse the moves against the court and the attorney general.
>> Bukele said that would not happen.
>>
>> Bukele’s concentration of power, attacks on critics and open
>> disdain for checks on his power have raised concerns about El
>> Salvador’s path. However, Bukele has a wide base of support
>> in part due to the utter failure of the country’s traditional
>> parties who ruled during the past 30 years to improve
>> people’s lives and to his ability to provide short-term benefits.
>>
>> Bukele has been praised for aggressively obtaining COVID-19
>> vaccines and running an efficient vaccination program far
>> more successful than El Salvador’s neighbours.
>>
>>
>> ____________________________
>>
>> Jai Sen
>>
>> Independent researcher, editor; Senior Fellow at the School
>> of International Development and Globalisation Studies at the
>> University of Ottawa
>>
>> jai.sen at cacim.net <mailto:jai.sen at cacim.net>&jsen at uottawa.ca
>> <mailto:jsen at uottawa.ca>
>>
>> Now based in Ottawa, Canada,on unsurrendered Anishinaabe
>> territory(+1-613-282 2900) and in New Delhi, India (+91-98189
>> 11325)
>>
>> */Check out something new/*/– including for copies of the
>> first two books below, at a discount, and much more :/*The
>> Movements of Movements <https://movementsofmovements.net/>*//
>>
>> Jai Sen, ed, 2017 –*/The Movements of Movements, Part 1 :
>> What Makes Us Move ?/*.New Delhi : OpenWord and Oakland, CA
>> :PM Press.Ebook and hard copy available atPM Press
>> <http://www.pmpress.org/>;hard copy only also atThe Movements
>> of Movements <https://movementsofmovements.net/>
>>
>> Jai Sen, ed, 2018a –*/The Movements of Movements, Part 2 :
>> Rethinking Our Dance/*.Ebook and hard copy available atPM
>> Press <http://www.pmpress.org/>;hard copy only also atThe
>> Movements of Movements <https://movementsofmovements.net/>
>>
>> Jai Sen, ed, 2018b –*/The Movements of Movements, Part 1 :
>> What Makes Us Move ?/*(Indian edition). New Delhi :
>> AuthorsUpfront, in collaboration with OpenWord andPM
>> Press.Hard copy available atMOM1AmazonIN
>> <https://www.amazon.in/dp/9387280101/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1522884070&sr=8-2&keywords=movements+of+movements+jai+sen>,MOM1Flipkart
>> <https://www.flipkart.com/the-movements-of-movements/p/itmf3zg7h79ecpgj?pid=9789387280106&lid=LSTBOK9789387280106NBA1CH&marketplace=FLIPKART&srno=s_1_1&otracker=search&fm=SEARCH&iid=ff35b702-e6a8-4423-b014-16c84f6f0092.9789387280106.SEARCH&ppt=Search%20Page>,
>> andMOM1AUpFront <http://www.authorsupfront.com/movements.htm>
>>
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