Opinion | El Salvador’s Bitcoin Paradise Is a Mirage

Ruben Navarrette: Bitcoin is the regime’s currency, primarily designed for foreign crypto enthusiasts. Some of them are V.I.P. attendants to president's private parties and give advice on public policy, he says. He says Salvadorans know this, but only 11 percent believe the main beneficiaries of the Bitcoin law are the people, while 80 percent believe it's either the rich, foreign investors, banks, businesspeople or the government. The narratives Bitcoiners spin about our country are often blatantly false, he writes. The government has used a state of emergency to imprison almost 40,000 people, often without defense, and has begun to crack down on press freedom, he adds. The government hasn’t investigated the illegal use of Pegasus spyware to monitor dozens of journalists Source