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Since January of this year, the number of terminals for working with cryptocurrencies has increased significantly in the world. Against this background, the authorities of El Salvador are increasing the state’s reserves in bitcoin. Recall that this Latin American country passed a law recognizing BTC as a legal tender in the summer.
However, many countries, such as Russia and China, are still negative towards the main cryptocurrency. The Central Bank of the Russian Federation even wants to present people with an alternative in the form of a digital ruble. There can be no talk of recognizing BTC, Elvira Nabiullina, chairman of the Central Bank, said earlier.
Seven troubles – one answer
The Bank of Russia plans to start testing a token pegged to the ruble as early as 2022. With the help of the national digital currency, the authorities of the country expect to inflict a crushing blow on bitcoin, since they do not intend to recognize it as a legal tender.
As Deputy Head of the Central Bank Olga Skorobogatova noted, the digital ruble will help solve many problems faced by the Russian financial system. According to her, citizens will have a great opportunity to use both cash and a digital version of the currency.
It will be possible to store tokens in wallets, the operators of which will be not only large, but also medium-sized banking institutions. In parallel, Skorobogatova ruled out the introduction of any restrictions and limits on transactions with an innovative tool.
It is worth noting that not only the leadership of the central bank, but also the Ministry of Finance is opposed to bitcoin. Recently, the head of the Central Bank, Elvira Nabiullina, confirmed her tough position and ruled out the legalization of cryptocurrency, which, according to her, creates risks for the financial system.
Strike while the iron is hot
If the Russian authorities are categorically against bitcoin, then El Salvador, on the contrary, advocates a more active use of this cryptocurrency. President Nayib Bukele initiated the adoption of a bill recognizing BTC as a full-fledged financial instrument.
This week it became known that El Salvador increased its reserves by another 420 coins. After purchasing the cryptocurrency, Bukele tweeted that the country is already making a profit, as the price of bitcoin increased by about 0.5% after the purchase, which amounted to about $100,000 in additional income.
After the latest operation, El Salvador’s crypto reserves rose to 1,120 bitcoins. The country bought BTC at an average of $53,300 per coin. The authorities have been acquiring the asset over the past two months, and they promise to maintain this course in the coming years.
More options for BTC holders
El Salvador not only continues to buy cryptocurrency, but also increases the number of terminals for operations with it. According to the latest data from the popular resource CoinATMRadar, over the past 10 months, the number of crypto ATMs in the world has grown from 14,016 to 30,011.
Moreover, El Salvador was in the top three countries in terms of the largest number of such devices. The first and second places continue to hold the US and Canada.
In the post-Soviet space, holders of digital currencies are ready to serve terminals in Russia, Ukraine, Georgia, as well as Kazakhstan and Latvia. There are 205 bitcoin ATMs in El Salvador. The largest number of them is established in the US states – 26,515.
China failed to crush bitcoin
The ban on mining in China only temporarily provoked a drop in computing power in the network. The hashrate recovered and began to increase in August. Growth has been observed over the past two months. The resettlement of miners from the Middle Kingdom is over, and now the pools have begun to produce cryptocurrency with renewed vigor to make up for lost time.
The BTC hashrate has doubled in just a few months. Now this indicator is very close to 182 exahash per second (EH / s). As Capriole founder Charles Edwards noted, network capacity is growing, which makes bitcoin safer.
Meanwhile, miners prefer to accumulate cryptocurrency rather than sell it. This tactic helps ease the pressure on the market and maintains high demand for bitcoin.
Sources: CoinTelegrapf, CoinATMRadar, Blockchain.com, CryptoQuant, Twitter
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