Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele Taunts Economist Steve Hanke After Bitcoin's Price Skyrockets

On October 15, the day bitcoin’s price surpassed the $60K per unit handle, Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele taunted the professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University, Steve Hanke, over his recent statements. At the time, the well known economist warned that El Salvador faces “financial ruin” with “Bukele at the helm,” after El Salvador’s president bought the bitcoin dip when the price was down.

3 Weeks Ago Steve Hanke Said ‘With Bukele at the Helm’ His Country Faces ‘Financial Ruin,’ Bukele Responds After Bitcoin Spikes and Says: ‘You Were Saying?’

When El Salvador adopted bitcoin (BTC) during the first week of September, the first day the law was enacted, BTC’s fiat value dropped a great deal. At that time, Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele told his Twitter followers that El Salvador was “buying the dip” as the country added 150 BTC to its stash. Meanwhile, the professor of applied economics at Johns Hopkins University, Steve Hanke, has criticized the Salvadoran president and tagged him in a Twitter post on September 23.

“Nayib Bukele is playing fast and [loose] with El Salvador’s tax dollars again,” Hanke said. “After bitcoin prices tumbled to a 6wk low, Bukele bought 150 more coins [and] proudly said that ‘We just bought the dip.’ With Bukele at the helm, ELSL faces financial ruin.”

Meanwhile, the leading crypto asset bitcoin (BTC) did fall into a slump in September, but as the month transitioned into October, BTC’s price skyrocketed. On October 15, Bukele decided to retweet Hanke’s September 23 statement and added a remark of his own. “You were saying?” Bukele tauntingly asked the well known economist. BTC has since been hovering above the $60K price range during the last 24 hours.

The following day, Hanke responded and said: “Yes, I was saying ‘financial ruin.’ Have you checked the price plunge of El Salvador’s dollar-denominated bonds since September 7th?” Hanke asked Bukele. “As the traders say, El Salvador’s bonds due in 2023, 2025, & 2029 are ‘distressed,’” Hanke added.

Hanke Says ‘Private, Digital Money Is Nothing New,’ and Claims ‘the Case for Crypto as a Driver of Innovation Is Thin’

Furthermore, the founder of Shapeshift, Erik Voorhees, also responded to Hanke’s tweet on Saturday with an animated GIF that shows goalposts moving. Another individual stated: “Hanke sounds like [the] people who were afraid of electricity in the 19th century.” Hanke has clearly stated that he’s not fond of bitcoin (BTC) many times, and he’s warned about El Salvador’s bitcoin adoption in June.

At that time, Hanke said he didn’t think it’s a good idea for the Latin American country to use bitcoin as legal tender and he further added that the decision could “completely collapse the economy.” Despite his angst toward bitcoin, the economist has said in the past that central banks fuel wealth loss and the world could use less of them. However, Hanke is a fan of the creation of currency boards, which essentially leverages monetary authority to maintain a fixed exchange rate with foreign currencies.

In more recent times, Hanke has said that “private, digital money is nothing new. Most money has been produced privately and in a digital form for decades,” Hanke claims. In an opinion editorial published via the National Review, Hanke stressed that “the case for crypto as a driver of innovation is thin.”