American “High Priest of Bitcoin” Max Keiser has likened Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele to John F. Kennedy, and El Salvador to the Kingdom of Camelot, depicting it as the Bitcoin promised land and Bitcoin Country. In just a couple of years, 14% of businesses in the country have already used Bitcoin, according to official data.
“Imagine JFK if he had Bitcoin to do battle with the C.I.A. and central banks—and what you get is President Bukele today. El Salvador is the new Camelot,” Keiser tweeted.
Keiser, a former American stockbroker and journalist, has been a big proponent of Bitcoin and El Salvador’s decision to make it legal tender. El Salvador under President Bukele would become the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as a legal currency.
Keiser and his wife Stacy Herbert have been put in charge of the nation’s National Bitcoin Office. They are taking no compensation.
So far, El Salvador has spent $200 million on infrastructure—Bitcoin ATMs and phone applications—to become the center of the Bitcoin universe, as well as on several Bitcoin purchases.
Keiser and Herbert have more than 700,000 followers on social media, and their shows and podcasts have long captured the financial imaginations of those who questioned the goals of the Federal Reserve and Wall Street. The pair reportedly own Heisenberg Capital, a fund through which they have invested in Bitcoin companies such as Bitfinex and more. They also own El Zonte Capital, a fund dedicated to El Salvador investments.
Bukele has been criticized for his policies—not only Bitcoin but also his approach to the country’s cartels and gangs. The International Monetary Fund (IMF), infamous for giving money to tyrannical governments to implement “economic medicine” austerity measures, rebuked Bukele for making Bitcoin legal tender alongside the dollar.
Bukele hosted in late 2021 El Salvador Bitcoin Week, taking the mic to say: “When Alexander the Great was conquering the world, he decided to set up 20 Alexandrias across his empire.These cities were beacons of hope for the rest of the Earth. We need to build our first Alexandria right here, in El Salvador. Let us create the City of Bitcoin.”
He announced Bitcoin mining projects leveraging geothermal energy from nearby volcanoes and the creation of so-called Bitcoin Bonds or Bitcoin bonds, a new Salvadoran government debt-backed by Bitcoin. El Salvador seeks to raies $1 billion through Bitcoin-backed bonds.
“Cheap and clean volcano energy from the balls of the Mother Earth’s own testicles, exploding in a jism of free power that’s going to make us all f—ing rich down here!” said Keiser.
Keiser wants to attract 10,000 Bitcoiners to El Salvador. His sales pitch is simple.
“Move to El Salvador, The New Land of the Free”
– No fentanyl crisis
– No shootings
– No lootings
– Lowest crime rate in Americas
– USD & BTC legal tender
– Great coffee
– Great weather
– Great beaches
