Vitalik Buterin called El Salvador's Bitcoin legalization "recklessness"
Vitalik Buterin criticized El Salvador's decision to recognize bitcoin as an official currency. The founder of Ethereum emphasized that the process of forcing the integration of digital assets into the financial system "contradicts the ideals of freedom.
Forcing businesses to accept a particular digital currency is contrary to the ideals of freedom that members of the cryptocurrency community should value. Furthermore, the tactic of simultaneously distributing BTC to millions of El Salvadorans with virtually no prior training is reckless and fraught with the risk that large numbers of innocent people will be hacked or duped. Shame on everyone (okay, fine, I'll name the main culprits: shame on bitcoin-maximalists) who praises him [President Nayib Bukele] without any criticism, Buterin wrote on Reddit.
In early September, a law recognizing bitcoin as a legal tender came into effect in El Salvador. The use of the new instrument is optional for individuals, but it has become a requirement for companies.
One user asked if Buterin would have said the same thing about Ethereum supporters if President Nayib Bukele had made a similar decision regarding the second most capitalized cryptocurrency. He replied that he had repeatedly criticized "users and applications."
The Ethereum founder is not the only one who opposed bitcoin legalization in El Salvador. Earlier, cryptocurrency analyst Mr. Whale called digital gold a "Trojan horse" of the country's government and what happened - "Satoshi's worst nightmare."
Recall that in early October, El Salvador began mining bitcoin using geothermal volcanic energy.