El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender is widely celebrated across the crypto ecosystem, but one expert believes the importance of the rollout was a little bit exaggerated.
Speaking to CNBC, Fidelity Investments director Jurrien Timmer said that the significance of El Salvador’s Bitcoin move is “a little bit overplayed.â€
“Because it’s not like El Salvador has dropped the U.S. dollar as its peg,†Timmer explained. “It’s not like it switched from dollars as its currency peg to Bitcoin.â€
Reminding that the country still has the dollar and people can decide to be paid in dollars or pay in dollars, he added that the adoption is on a voluntary basis. However, while paying in Bitcoin is voluntary in El Salvador, local merchants in the country are mandated to accept and process BTC transactions.
Related: Sept. 7 is ‘Bitcoin Day’ in El Salvador as BTC becomes legal tender
The Fidelity exec compared Bitcoin’s current moment to an “adolescent’s coming of age†like gold was in the 1960s:
“Although it’s in reverse; because gold went from being money to being an asset class in the seventies. Bitcoin is trying to go from being asset class to also being a currency or being money.â€
As Cointelegraph reported, El Salvador made history on Sept. 7 by making Bitcoin legal tender. The government also provided a state-issued wallet named Chivo.
