How long can Binance find refuge in El Salvador?
On Tuesday, crypto exchange Binance became the first to receive a license to operate in Bitcoin-friendly El Salvador as it seeks shelter from regulators across the US, EU, and Australia. The timing couldn’t be better — but what about the destination? President Nayib Bukele, the self-proclaimed ‘Dictator of El Salvador,’ made bitcoin legal tender in 2021. A network of bitcoin ATMs with flawed software and a state-sponsored mobile app that enabled identity theft plagued initial rollouts. The International Monetary Fund (IMF) criticized El Salvador’s Bitcoin pivot, and the World Bank refused to help El Salvador develop bitcoin as legal tender. Bukele has bought millions of dollars worth of bitcoin using public funds — without the public’s consent — and has pledged to add one bitcoin a day. When FTX collapsed, it showed how susceptible El Salvador’s finances were to bitcoin’s volatility. Bukele had bought over 2,000 bitcoins at an average of $45,000 – wort...