An on-the-ground update from my friend:

'Operation Choke Point 2.0' was partially dropped with the exit of the Biden creeps, but nothing has stopped the banks from continuing on their attacks in more-or-less the same manner.  My friend reports that the channels which worked for a while closed up as 'banking partners' can no longer move money through SWIFT if they don't wish to.  Thankfully for him he pulled a million and got a house.  It's possible that this action got him targeted, but the nature of the USD-backed banking apparatus makes it a completely opaque black box.  Via AML/CFT, it's strictly illegal for anyone in the money service provider racket to say anything at all about issues involving the movement of money.

But since my friend lives happily and legally in El Salvador, there is inconvenient but currently workable a backup solution:

It's pretty easy to get around $3000/day out of the Chivo machines.  This can add up to sums normally associated with higher-end solutions like Bitfinex or OTC.  The catch is that you have to have _real_ Bitcoin.  They don't fuck around with stable-coins and other shitcoin.  Real on-chain BTC talks; the rest of the bullshit walks.  There is also no spread.  One coughs up $500 spot BTC equiv and pay's whatever the BTC network fees happen to be then walks away with twenty-five $20 bills.

The last $30k or so has been trouble-free.  No more being ripped off by the Chivo machines with incomplete guidance about how to get your money when it doesn't pop out of the slot.  My friend was at a Chivo machine today and it had some attendants.  They report that they still work for the government and they have heard no scuttle-but about a change of ownership.  They also report that the whole system has become much more stable over the past 6 months.

I suspect that the goal is to try to soak up what they can of the of the 21-mil BTC remain.  Dunno whether El Salvador is keeping it for their reserve, or handing it off to Larry Fink who (10 years to late) recognized the value of being the controller of the actual keys.  As for the wads of cash, the mainstream bank will (grudgingly) accept it if there are receipts from the Chivo machines.  Then he can use credit cards or cash fairly normally.

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It took me a while to finally analyze the situations with banks and nations.  The brainless assumption is that, for instance, if Banco Foomerica is a Nicaraguan bank, they must be somewhat aligned with Nicaraguan principles.  Nothing could be farther from the truth, especially in Central America.  In fact most of these types of entities were started by one of the (admittedly gifted) offspring of the oligarch class.  Their main enemy would be the local pleb classes who they've been in a struggle with all of their lives and who've cost them a lot of money.  The pleb classes in neighboring countries are only slightly less despicable and dangerous.

This oligarch class, while masters of their domain in LATAM, still probably do often have an inferiority complex on the world stage.  When they get invited to the WEF in Davos they probably pee themselves in excitement.  They are especially smitten with modern methods of population control via surveillance so it seems.  It is a possibility, and maybe their only possibility, of maintaining and further growing their station in life.  There is quite a huge push to 'go cashless' and finally be able to get rid of the dangerous, unsightly, and expensive employees in their malls and department stores just like their new-found WEF friends promise.

Common people have many misconceptions about Bitcoin. That is why they are afraid to invest in Bitcoin and hold it for a long time. But when a country approves Bitcoin, at least the people of that country get the courage to invest in or hold Bitcoin. Even when the people of their country get the right knowledge about Bitcoin, they get the confidence to trust Bitcoin. And when so many people in the world are attracted to Bitcoin, its price has increased hundreds of times, so thinking about the future, El Salvador, which has approved Bitcoin in its own country, will bring development to its economy in the future. and will provide financial security to the people of its country in the future. If Bitcoin-based world-wide economic transactions start in the near future, then all the countries that have accepted Bitcoin, approved it and held it from the beginning will be ahead. Considering all these aspects, El Salvador made this decision with a lot of far front  future thinking, the results of which they will definitely get positively in the future.

To strengthen international diplomatic relations between El Salvador and Switzerland, an honorary consulate has been opened in Lugono, Switzerland, where international relations, commercial relations and diplomatic relations between the two countries will be discussed and developed on a regular basis. In addition to diplomatic and political discussions, discussions will also be held on science and technology, research and digital currency, and many other topics related to relations between distant countries.
 
Bitcoin News

Here is something to consider about El Salvador:

El Salvador formulated a certain tax and other policy positions toward people who hold BTC which seems (for now) to be quite beneficial toward them.  A certain number of people who's investments are quite heavy in BTC have toyed with El Salvador where it would not have been even on their radar were it not for their BTC related policies.

I know in my friend's case it has already contributed numbers in the 6 figure range to the nations coffers in taxes directly.  Although he intends to never 'settle' anywhere on a permanent basis, he has a footprint in the country and, on the current trajectory, will probably continue to make it a part of his family's life for the foreseeable future.

Here's the deal.  No thinking person of means is going shoot their entire wad in one place.  El Salvador may have benefited, say, $1B fairly directly due to their Bitcoin policy, but far more importantly, they have exposed themselves to very many times that amount in unopened bags.  The better they treat their 'guests', including things that only a nation-state can do, the more BTC will spill out of tiny holes in those bags.

Any country can do this type of welcoming (depending to a degree to how free of the likes of the IMF-class entities they may be and how under threat they are in their neighborhoods.)  Various countries are clearly looking at the possibilities.  El Salvador has a running start thanks, seemingly, to Bukele as an unusually visionary individual.  Hopefully El Salvador doesn't blow the running start they got.

El Salvador's five-year Bitcoin adoption will be a positive aspect. No country could have imagined that bitcoin would be legalized in 2021. But they directly approved bitcoin. Initially, people might have thought about it in various negative ways, but with time, their decision has become a positive one for many. Since their decision, other countries have thought positively about bitcoin. The most important thing is that even after five years, Bitcoin has not disappeared from their national discussion. And the government has created various ways and opportunities for bitcoin adoption. If the acceptance of bitcoin continues to increase worldwide in the future, other countries may also approve bitcoin. At that time, El Salvador will be ahead in terms of bitcoin adoption. In the future, their decision to legalize bitcoin and the daily maintenance of it will put them in a good position in the global economy.

Right from time, I already know that El-Salvador will not give up all because of IMF over their bitcoin investment strategy of decided to always and back on, it is very important that we know what we want and without hesitating to take option since we will still be more responsible over any decision taken as well as facing the consequence that may follows.

But after all this has been done, they are still standing strong without regretting any of their actions over Bitcoin adoption.

Base in this article created on September 6 https://www.benzinga.com/crypto/cryptocurrency/26/09/61567187/el-salvador-one-bitcoin-a-day-nayib-bukele-crypto-bet-paid-off until now El Salvador manage to sustain their 1 Bitcoin purchase on daily basis.

Maybe this is the best action they could do for now. Knowing that IMF is strictly monitoring on transaction made by El Salvador, but its still nice to know that despite of many challenges in the market. Here they are continuously believe that Bitcoin is one of the best asset to invest.

1 BTC/day is, at current prices, covered by around 80 'visitors' to the Chivo ATMs per day taking the max daily limit.  Or about 26 families with three sim cards per family.

For some reason Chivo does not sell USD with any spread to cover costs so far as I can tell.  Maybe that is why, as far as I can tell, the government never found a buyer to take Chivo off their hands.

Chivo used to be a laughing stalk of unreliability a few years ago, but they suddenly it became rock solid.  I suppose that enough money was invested in a re-write and/or operations to make it so that El Salvador could comply with the IMF's demands that they divest of the asset.  But such an asset as a fully fledged ATM system must be hard to price

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One thing I will say is that if there are gremlins in the USD-based monetary system such that a S.E. Asian cannot receive funds from very well established non-US exchange due to undefined 'banking partner' problems, a solution such as currently exists in El Salvador is a game changer.  It's a PITA to take cash to the bank to fund one's living expenses, but it's at least possible.

The only thing which is know for sure about the SWIFT(?) issues is that they are NOT associated with any criminal activity.  So yes, it is 100% true that at least one person has been de-banked in some ways, and there is no way to know why or for how long.  I do hope that as BRICS associated payment rails develop, they at least have the means of telling a user what the problem is.

In the mean time, it is more and more possible to pay for big-ticket items directly with BTC, and in El Salvador, it is increasingly common for vendors to accept BTC if it means the difference between a sale and no-sale.

In its current position, El Salvador is leading the way in Bitcoin adoption, as other countries are moving towards Bitcoin investment after seeing El Salvador's Bitcoin investment. The only way to achieve quick success is to hold Bitcoin for a long time, and then you will definitely achieve more success.
Bitcoin increases in price in cycles, so it is easy to invest in it and if you follow the strategy, you will definitely achieve success. Because El Salvador has purchased Bitcoin at a daily rate, which has resulted in huge savings on their purchase price.


I not only liked El Salvador's Bitcoin investment strategy, but I also liked their Bitcoin investment strategy because they are pushing their future generations towards Bitcoin. They have created an opportunity for everyone from young children to adults to receive Bitcoin education, which is even better for every nation in the world because it is enough to empower the future generations.

Got surprised about that rejection? IMF strongly discourage EL Salvador to invest on Bitcoin, their resistance and following what they like to happen ends up receiving that decision.

Also this is not new to them and their counter actions with that situation is to halt their bitcoin buyshttps://www.elsalvadornow.org/2026/09/05/bukele-yields-to-the-imf-halts-bitcoin-purchases-and-hands-over-current-holdings-to-a-private-operator-bukele-cede-ante-el-fmi-frena-la-compra-de-bitcoin-y-entrega-las-reservas-actuales-a

Then good to see that they still want to continue their investment, despite of that oppression.