[Bitcoin Now] Bitcoin Approaches 60 Million KRW Ahead of El Salvador's Legal Tender Adoption...

Small Investors Supporting El Salvador's Decision Flock to Bitcoin
Bitcoin Legal Tender Introduced on 7th (Local Time) but Concerns Grow

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Gong Byung-sun] The representative cryptocurrency Bitcoin has approached the 60 million KRW mark. This bullish trend is interpreted as being driven by small investors flocking ahead of El Salvador, a Central and South American country, adopting Bitcoin as legal tender.

According to the domestic cryptocurrency exchange Upbit, as of 7:15 PM on the 6th, Bitcoin recorded 59.61 million KRW, up 0.69% compared to the previous day. It has been on a six-day consecutive rise since rebounding from 54.53 million KRW on the 1st. On the same day, it even rose to 59.81 million KRW at 4:45 PM.

El Salvador's adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender appears to have a positive impact. On the 5th (local time), the US economic media Bloomberg reported that investors supporting El Salvador's Bitcoin legal tender adoption are purchasing small amounts of Bitcoin. On social networking services (SNS) such as Twitter and Reddit, people are planning to buy about $30 (approximately 34,725 KRW) worth of Bitcoin each on the 7th, when Bitcoin will start being used as legal tender.

On June 9th, El Salvador became the first country in the world to pass a Bitcoin bill in its legislature approving Bitcoin as legal tender. Following this, President Nayib Bukele, who promoted the Bitcoin bill, began to attract public attention. President Bukele stated, "The approval of Bitcoin as legal tender will create jobs in the short term and provide financial access to those outside the formal financial system."

However, experts' outlooks are not optimistic. Regarding El Salvador's plan to provide citizens with $30 worth of Bitcoin, Vijay Aiyar, Asia-Pacific regional head of the cryptocurrency exchange Luno, pointed out, "What is said and what is actually achieved are very different matters." Last month, Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya announced plans to give about $30 worth of Bitcoin to citizens who create digital wallets and enter their national ID numbers.

Strong opposition from the public is also a concern for the El Salvador government. According to a public opinion survey conducted on 1,281 citizens by the Central American University (UCA) in El Salvador on the 2nd, 22.7% of respondents were strongly opposed and 45.2% opposed the adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender. Additionally, 66.7% responded that the law should be repealed now.