A growing movement on social media platforms is calling for people to buy small amounts of Bitcoin in support of El Salvador’s plan to make the cryptocurrency an optional legal tender. Users on platforms including Twitter and Reddit are discussing plans to buy $30 worth of Bitcoin en masse on Sept. 7 to mark El Salvador’s Bitcoin law coming into effect. The potential coordinated price pump echoes previous online campaigns targeting meme stocks like GameStop Corp.
El Salvador has begun installing Bitcoin ATMs.
El Salvador has begun installing Bitcoin ATMs to allow citizens to convert the token into U.S. dollars. The government has created a $150 million fund to back conversions of Bitcoin to U.S. dollars. Salvadorans will be able to download the government’s digital wallet, enter their ID number and receive $30 in Bitcoin, Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya told local media last month. It will be a challenge for users to actually coordinate and act out such a plan, said Vijay Ayyar, head of Asia Pacific with crypto exchange Luno in Singapore.
Bitcoin nears $52,000.
The leading cryptocurrency by market capitalization, Bitcoin, has been on a strong run of late, surging to almost $52,000 today to touch the highest level since May. That’s come amid a broader revival in the crypto sector from a rout earlier this year. At the time of writing, bitcoin is trading at just above $51,700. Other cryptocurrencies also witnessed substantial gains last week. The second-largest cryptocurrency, Ether, also surged above $4,000 after a long time.
Recently, a nationwide survey conducted by the University Institute of Public Opinion (Iudop) showed that seven out of 10 Salvadorans want the government to repeal the Bitcoin Law.
