El Salvador Headed for Economic Collapse, Says Steve Hanke

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  • Professor and economist Steve Hanke thinks El Salvador’s BTC adoption is “stupid
  • ”Hanke made the comments in an interview with Kitco News
  • Also, the economist says it would be disastrous if other countries adopt bitcoin

Steve Hanke, an economist and John Hopkins University professor, called El Salvador’s Bitcoin (BTC) adoption “economic stupidity.” Hanke made the comments in an interview with Kitco News.

Notably, Hanke made these comments after the interviewer asked him about El Salvador’s decision. Specifically, the interviewer questioned if the country’s Bitcoin adoption could be taken as a signal. With El Salvador accepting Bitcoin as legal tender is it time to universally accept the crypto as a currency? However, Hanke responded,

Bitcoin is not used in day-to-day transactions for practical purposes. You’re not gonna pay for a taxi ride with bitcoin, it’s ridiculous. This is not gonna happen, 70% of the people in El Salvador don’t even have bank accounts. And now you’re telling me they are going to be using cryptocurrencies?

The economist added that since the Latin American country does not have a currency of its own, and uses the US dollar, it will likely run out of money. In addition, the economist reasoned that BTC sellers will target the country, thus draining its dollar reserves. Hanke equated the process to a vacuum that will suck the country dry leading to an economic collapse.

Also believes that criminal elements are behind El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption. Hanke noted that criminal elements might also influence other South American countries like Panama and Paraguay to also adopt the top crypto.

The Applied Economics professor predicts that if these countries adopt crypto it will be a disaster. Hanke reasons that criminals will use these countries as a means to access real currency in the form of ‘green backs’.

Meanwhile, the Bank of England recently released a report on the impact of digital currencies. The report stated that digital currencies like stablecoins can help make financial systems more efficient. In the same vein, Celsius Network CEO Alex Mashinsky predicts that if countries like Brazil and Nigeria adopt BTC the crypto is likely to soar to $16,000.

Finally, at the time of writing, BTC was trading at $40,323.43 with a volume of $35,328,230,653.

Source: https://coinquora.com/el-salvador-headed-for-economic-collapse-says-steve-hanke/

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