The CEO of BitMEX believes that other developing countries will follow the path taken by El Salvador by legalizing Bitcoin, by the end of 2022. He puts forward 3 factors explaining the craze of emerging countries for the king of cryptocurrencies.
4 developing countries will follow in El Salvador’s footsteps: optimistic predictions from BitMEX CEO
BitMEX CEO Alexander Höptner said in an October 6, 2021 blog post titled “Developing Countries are Leading the Way in Bitcoin Adoption. Here’s Why,” that he believes Bitcoin will be legal tender in at least five countries, including El Salvador, by the end of 2022:
“My prediction is that by the end of next year, we will have at least five countries that will accept Bitcoin as legal tender. All of them will be developing countries.”
Höptner is not alone in thinking that other countries will follow El Salvador’s lead. Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson also mentioned the idea in September 2021. Edward Snowden, for his part, had pointed out in his tweet of September 7, 2021, that “pressure is now building on competing nations to acquire Bitcoin, if only as a reserve asset, as its design provides massive incentives for rapid adoption. Latecomers may regret having hesitated.”
Legalize Bitcoin: these 3 factors explaining the potential craze in developing countries
Emerging countries would be the most inclined to legalize Bitcoin, as they are also the most concerned with money transfer issues:
“But the current remittance system – run by money service providers like Western Union – rips people off by charging an average of 10% just to send money home the next business day.”
Emerging countries also face inflation. Höptner cites figures from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) that predict inflation of 2.4% for developed countries and 5.4% for developing countries in 2021. Inflation induces people to invest in hedging assets. Höptner uses the case of Turkey to illustrate this idea:
“While inflation has exceeded 15% this year in Turkey, crypto adoption has increased.”
The final push for Bitcoin legalization in emerging countries would be political. Höptner believes that leaders and lawmakers in emerging countries possess the qualities of El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele:
“Like President Bukele, many are competent and savvy, and have an interest in positioning themselves as progressive, populist, new age thinkers.”
Even 1 or 2 years ago, such predictions would have been considered simply too optimistic to be realistic. El Salvador, however, has shaken things up, and other countries such as Brazil are also busy preparing for their Bitcoin revolution.
