El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele hosted 32 central banks and 12 financial authorities from 44 countries on Monday to discuss Bitcoin and other digital economy issues. Will we see more countries adopting BTC in the near future
44 countries meet in El Salvador: meeting kept confidential
Representatives from 32 central banks and 12 financial authorities, representing 44 countries, met in El Salvador yesterday to discuss issues including the digital economy, financial inclusion, deployment and the benefits of Bitcoin (BTC) in the economy.
This is quite surprising news as this meeting was not disclosed by any media, not even by the local Salvadoran media, which did not even seem to know about this conference announced at the last minute.
It was Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, who tweeted on Sunday night that representatives from 44 countries would be meeting in El Salvador the next day to discuss Bitcoin, among other things. But before that tweet, no one seemed to know about it.
Tomorrow, 32 central banks and 12 financial authorities (44 countries) will meet in El Salvador to discuss financial inclusion, digital economy, banking the unbanked, the Bitcoin rollout and its benefits in our country.
– Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) May 16, 2022
The list of countries participating in the meeting was revealed in a series of tweets by the Salvadoran president himself. It is learnt that these representatives of central banks and financial authorities are mainly from developing countries, including Nigeria, Mauritania, Egypt, Nepal, Pakistan, Morocco, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Paraguay, Angola, Guinea and Madagascar.
The surprise is that the Central African Republic is not present at this meeting after the country also adopted Bitcoin as a legal tender in April.
Many Latin American countries are also present, including Costa Rica, Ecuador and Honduras.
The meeting is taking place in Bitcoin Beach, a city that is promoting the adoption of Bitcoin in El Salvador. The city has issued a message about the meeting while also sending a message to the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which has repeatedly expressed its distrust of El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin as a legal currency.
Through a tweet, Bitcoin Beach told the IMF to “not worry”, this meeting “is probably nothing”.
Central bankers from Angola, Armenia, Bangladesh, Brundi, Congo, Costa Rica, Egypt, Gambia, Ghana, India, Nambia, Senegal, Sundan, Uganda, Zambia and 25 other developing countries are getting on planes today to fly to ElSalvador – Don’t worry @IMFNews – it is probably nothing
– Bitcoin Beach (@Bitcoinbeach) May 13, 2022
Bitcoin at the centre of the debate
After El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as its legal tender last September, the country has become a benchmark for cryptocurrencies. It turns out that the country’s president is very “crypto-friendly”, and has always been open about it. The country also holds bitcoins, having accumulated over 2,000 to date (worth over $60 million at current prices).
Despite much criticism and distrust from other countries and financial institutions, it turns out that since Bitcoin became the legal currency, tourism has reportedly increased by 30% in the small country.
This seems to be inspiring other developing countries who have agreed to join this meeting which will most likely discuss the benefits of adopting Bitcoin. El Salvador could demonstrate how Bitcoin is used, as well as its many benefits for an economy of this magnitude.
But in reality, as no information has been leaked, the full agenda is not known. The participants as well as the local authorities kept the meeting secret until the last moment.
One suspects that El Salvador could serve as a model for many countries with small economies. Will we then see other countries adopting BTC
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