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Bitcoin tumbles 10% as El Salvador adopts it as legal tender
CNBC ^ | Tuesday, September 7, 2021 | Tanaya Macheel

Posted on 09/07/2021 11:21:05 AM PDT by SunkenCiv

The price of bitcoin fell Tuesday after breaking through $52,000 late Monday, reaching its highest level since May.

The price action comes on the day El Salvador is set to adopt the largest cryptocurrency by market cap as legal tender, becoming the first country to do so. Bitcoin dropped as much as 16% on Tuesday morning. It was last down by about 9.8% and trading at $46,741.00, according to Coin Metrics. Ether fell about 12% to $3,438.00.

Crypto adjacent stocks MicroStrategy and Coinbase also fell about 7% and 3%, respectively. Coinbase users were experiencing delayed or canceled transactions at “elevated rates” in the morning, the company said in an update on Twitter, but those issues were resolved by the afternoon. Major crypto exchanges Kraken and Gemini were also investigating delays and performance issues.

Early Tuesday El Salvador temporarily disabled Chivo, its government-run bitcoin wallet, to increase the capacity of the servers, which were hindering new users from installing it, President Nayib Bukele announced in a tweet at about 7:00 a.m. EST...

As part of the new law, businesses will be required to accept bitcoin for goods and services, though merchants who aren’t technologically able to accept bitcoin will be exempt. The government has installed 200 bitcoin ATMs around El Salvador. It also bought 400 bitcoins worth about $20 million and is preloading Chivo wallets with $30 worth of bitcoin for Salvadorans who register.

(Excerpt) Read more at cnbc.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Society; Travel
KEYWORDS: bitcoin; chivo; cnbc; cryptocurrency; elsalvador; fiatcurrency; gemini; kraken; nayibbukele; tanayamacheel; twitter
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1 posted on 09/07/2021 11:21:05 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
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To: AdmSmith; AnonymousConservative; Arthur Wildfire! March; Berosus; Bockscar; cardinal4; ColdOne; ...
Good luck with that -- although among smaller countries, it could wind up becoming a de facto unified common currency.

2 posted on 09/07/2021 11:22:20 AM PDT by SunkenCiv (Imagine an imaginary menagerie manager imagining managing an imaginary menagerie.)
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To: SunkenCiv

I wish El Salvador and Presidente Bukele the best. He’s done some amazing things in 3 years. San Salvador went from the murder capital of the world to being safer than many U.S. cities. He declined to meet with the Biden administration. And giving the middle finger to the IMF puts a target on himself. I hope he’s got a taste tester and doesn’t fly much.


3 posted on 09/07/2021 11:30:55 AM PDT by neefer (Because you can't starve us out and you can't make us run.)
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To: SunkenCiv

I would think they’d use some kind of stable coin instead of something that might be $50k this week and $30k next week.


4 posted on 09/07/2021 11:32:55 AM PDT by Pollard (#*&% Communism)
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To: SunkenCiv

Sounds like an excellent buying opportunity (channeling bitcoin hawkers).

More seriously, my expert opinion is that folks should either HOLD, SELL or BUY.


5 posted on 09/07/2021 11:36:44 AM PDT by Larry Lucido (Donate! Don't just post clickbait!)
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To: SunkenCiv

Isn’t the whole point of bitcoin that it is outside the world’s monetary system, outside the ccontrol of any government?


6 posted on 09/07/2021 11:39:18 AM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: Dilbert San Diego

Accepting it as a form of legal currency isn’t the same thing as controlling it. But Bitcoin’s flaw is that it requires a lot of energy to mine. There are only a few companies that mine it and they’re all in cold weather climates that don’t require cooling. If anything, El Salvador is improving to its decentralization.


7 posted on 09/07/2021 11:45:08 AM PDT by neefer (Because you can't starve us out and you can't make us run.)
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To: Pollard

Don’t be a troublemaker and impose real world “stuff” on the coin hobbyist’s dream.


8 posted on 09/07/2021 11:45:27 AM PDT by BiglyCommentary
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To: Larry Lucido; SunkenCiv
More seriously, my expert opinion is that folks should either HOLD, SELL or [and] BUY.

Works for me.

9 posted on 09/07/2021 11:47:07 AM PDT by amorphous
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To: SunkenCiv

Is that a cryptocurrency ping list? Can you pls add me to it? I thought I was already on one but I could be mistaken.


10 posted on 09/07/2021 11:53:15 AM PDT by Kevmo (I’m immune from Covid since I don’t watch TV.🤗)
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To: SunkenCiv

Is this a crypto list? If so, please add me.


11 posted on 09/07/2021 11:54:45 AM PDT by frogjerk (I will not do business with fascists)
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To: Pollard

The attraction is that it’s not tied to any other nation’s capricious monetary policies.


12 posted on 09/07/2021 11:55:58 AM PDT by Kevmo (I’m immune from Covid since I don’t watch TV.🤗)
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To: Pollard
I would think they’d use some kind of stable coin instead of something that might be $50k this week and $30k next week.

It depends if you view volatility as good or bad. If you bought at $30k and sold at $50K that's one hell of nice gain in a short period of time. Unless you're quite wealthy, it would be difficult to make that type of gain in stocks within a week.

Sure, the stable coins that are tagged to the dollar don't fluctuate, but you're not going to gain anything. In the 50 years since Nixon took us off the gold standard, the dollar has slowly lost its value. Biden is trying to accelerate that trend.
13 posted on 09/07/2021 12:00:09 PM PDT by neefer (Because you can't starve us out and you can't make us run.)
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To: neefer
But Bitcoin’s flaw is that it requires a lot of energy to mine. There are only a few companies that mine it and they’re all in cold weather climates that don’t require cooling.

Most of the bitcoins have been mined. Those were the low-hanging fruit as it were. There are actually thousands of computers chugging along vying for the remainders some of those are "organized" farms and being in arctic circle locales means lower cooling costs. There remains thousands of individuals with PCs running the math program round the clock - mostly enthusiasts with money to burn.

I wish the El Salvadorans had not cozied up with CCP who are gaining ground in Central and South America. And stop sending us their criminals and sick.

14 posted on 09/07/2021 12:01:09 PM PDT by corkoman
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To: Pollard

What stable coin are you referring to? Gold? Or another crypto.


15 posted on 09/07/2021 12:08:46 PM PDT by DesertRhino (Dogs are called man's best friend. Moslems hate dogs. Add it up....)
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To: corkoman
There remains thousands of individuals with PCs running the math program round the clock - mostly enthusiasts with money to burn.

Indeed. There isn't much incentive to mine Bitcoin. Obviously, those who got in early made the most from it. And I've heard many of those people say "I'll never sell my Bitcoin." But I can't see it going higher than $100K in the near future then slowly fading into irrelevance. It can't handle the transaction speed of newer coins. My money is on Solana (which it the only major coin that hasn't dropped yet today).
16 posted on 09/07/2021 12:08:53 PM PDT by neefer (Because you can't starve us out and you can't make us run.)
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To: DesertRhino

Crypto pegged to gold, silver etc. They also have some that are pegged to the USD. 1 coin = 1 USD


17 posted on 09/07/2021 12:12:38 PM PDT by Pollard (#*&% Communism)
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To: amorphous

That’s actually similar to a legitimate investment strategy... bought when it was too high and the price drops?? Keep buying more, so the average price of your holdings is lower than when you originally bought it, and then you make more profits when you eventually sell.

Of course it doesn’t work if the investment never goes back up again. Every system has a flaw.


18 posted on 09/07/2021 12:13:53 PM PDT by Boogieman
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To: neefer

“Sure, the stable coins that are tagged to the dollar don’t fluctuate”.

But it’s tagged to the dollar. If you wanted to make that nutty move, why not just tag your currency to the dollar and cut out the middleman?


19 posted on 09/07/2021 12:14:02 PM PDT by DesertRhino (Dogs are called man's best friend. Moslems hate dogs. Add it up....)
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To: neefer

Well they may have just lost 10% as per the article title. Being Brazil, they should create a crypto that’s pegged to the price of beef.


20 posted on 09/07/2021 12:14:11 PM PDT by Pollard (#*&% Communism)
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