Bitcoin protests El Salvador increase: thousands of protesters take to the streets, BTC ATM on fire

Protests in El Salvador against President Nayib Bukele and the recently enacted bitcoin (BTC) law continue. Thousands of people took to the streets yesterday, it was the biggest protest in recent times in the Central American country, local news sources report:

Yesterday, even one of the new “Chivo” bitcoin ATMs was destroyed by protesters. The Puntos Chivo kiosk was defaced with anti-bitcoin logos and the text “democracy is not for sale.” Then the kiosk was set on fire along with the flag of El Salvador.

Although the cryptocurrency community recently celebrated the adoption of the new controversial bitcoin law, many Salvadorans seem less happy about it. However, the protests go beyond the bitcoin law and appear to be primarily directed against Bukele’s authoritarian regime. However, Bitcoin is included in this.

President Bukele lashes out at the vandalism on Twitter. He calls the rumor that the vandalism was carried out by government infiltrators nonsense. He also lashes out at Salvadorans and the press who just watched or even applauded the destruction instead of trying to stop it.

When the bitcoin law was introduced on September 7, it was accompanied by a significant crash in the price. The price plunged from $52,500 to $44,000 and it took another week before the price finally started to recover. Bukele himself “bought the dip.”

The introduction of the law was not without problems, especially with the Chivo wallet. Despite this, people like Cardano (ADA) founder Charles Hoskinson are convinced that more countries will follow El Salvador. Bukele reported the day before yesterday that “95%” of the problems with the bitcoin wallet have now been resolved.