El Salvador to build veterinary hospital from Bitcoin profits
The El Salvador government announced on the 9th that it will use the profit of $4 million generated from the rise in the price of Bitcoin to establish a veterinary hospital. It will invest US dollars managed by the country’s Bitcoin trust and will not sell Bitcoin for the initiative.
The country’s president Nayib Bukele announced the plan via a Tweet on Saturday, listing the facilities the hospital will offer.
As per the announcement, the facility will offer a wide range of functions including 12 clinics, 4 emergency outpatient clinics, an operating room, and a rehabilitation area.
According to President Bukele, the El Salvadorian government operates a trust called FIDEBITCOIN which holds US dollars and Bitcoin. Chivo, the state-owned company that operates the trust, has a system to settle Bitcoin managed by Bandesal, an El Salvadoran Development Bank.
The establishment of a Bitcoin trust in the country was announced near August-end, and at the time of the press, it was worth $140 million. An establishment of the fund was included in the Bitcoin Act, which made Bitcoin a legal tender of the country.
While prominent leaders have promoted the aggressive policies of the Bitcoin act, there are dissenting opinions from the crypto community as well.
As per article 7 of the Bitcoin Act, all economic participants must accept Bitcoin as a means of payment when presented by a person who purchases a product or service. The law has forced millions of buyers and sellers to engage in crypto-related activities.
Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin criticized the Bukele administration for semi-forcedly introducing the use of Bitcoin on bulletin board site Reddit on the 8th. Particularly, he pointed out that the fact that companies are “forced” to adopt Bitcoin violates freedom, a core belief of cryptocurrencies.
Buterin also accused him of being irresponsible for pushing Bitcoin on millions of people without encouraging and conducting sufficient educational activities on cryptocurrencies in advance, increasing the risk for hacking and fraud.
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OhNoCryptocurrency via https://www.ohnocrypto.com/ @Gauri Bhatia, @Khareem Sudlow