Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin recently criticized El Salvador’s move to accept Bitcoin, describing it as “reckless”. He shared this in a comment he left on r/CryptoCurrency, the largest cryptocurrency-related subreddit.
Buterin mocks Bitcoin maximists
Buterin believes that forcing companies to accept cryptocurrency is against the ethos of the crypto world. The Russian-Canadian programmer adds that Salvadorans are at risk of being hacked or scammed for lack of knowledge.
In a follow-up comment, Buterin mocked Bitcoin maximalists as a community easily influenced by powerful allies:
Bitcoin Maximalists are a very easy community to get behind you. You just need to be in a position of power and say nice things about their coin and they will praise you.
Last month, Buterin also criticized Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey. His most recent comments have not gone unnoticed by the Bitcoin community. They accused Buterin of being “salty” and hypocritical.
The Bizarre Bitcoin Experiment
El Salvador recently became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as its official currency. Some think this is a genius move by the country. Others argue that the money allocated to the large Bitcoin experiment could also have been used to improve healthcare or education in the country.
It is mandatory for traders to accept Bitcoin in early September. This is despite President Nayib Bukele declaring it would be voluntary, less than two months before the law went into effect.
Bukele, who recently jokingly called himself “the coolest dictator in the world”, is a big fan of the digital currency. He continues to share the government’s multimillion-dollar purchases in BTC tokens on Twitter. The country has also started a mining company that mines BTC powered by volcanic energy.