068 - Tomer Kantor: El Salvador, Bitcoin & The IMF

Bitcoin, El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, Education, Dollarization, China, Singapore, IMF, Hope, Bond to Unbind.

Timothy Allen talks with Tomer Kantor.

I’ve got my final Bitcoin film festival despatch for you today. I’m talking with the director of the film “Bond to Unbind. Bitcoin & El Salvador".

Tomer’s film is a deep dive into the fascinating story of contemporary El Salvador. Spearheaded by its phenomenally popular president Nayib Bukele, El Salvador took the bold approach of not only passing the world’s first ever Bitcoin legal tender bill in 2021, but also of actively rallying against El Salvador's traditional relationship with the IMF, including ignoring their pleas to rescind the Bitcoin law.

In the words of Fortune magazine:

“The International Monetary Fund’s board urged El Salvador to strip Bitcoin of its status as legal currency due to its large risks, highlighting a major obstacle for the nation’s efforts to get a loan from the institution.”

Seemingly unperturbed by the IMF's passive aggressive threats, El Salvador’s so-called Volcano bonds, which are the governments Bitcoin-backed bonds also got regulatory approval at the end of 2023.

We discuss all this and more in the pod as well as a talking about both of our personal experiences visiting the country since the law was passed.

Enjoy the conversation.

TIMESTAMPS

• (0:30) Introduction.
• (4:16) What were your preconceptions of El Salvador?
• (11:26) Dollarization in El Salvador.
• (15:55) Bottom up adoption of Bitcoin
• (22:51) What drives bitcoin adoption?
• (28:00) Nayib Bukele's back story.
• (35:01) El Salvador wants to be the new Singapore.
• (41:04) What do Salvadorians think of Bukele?
• (47:35) Is Bukele trust worthy?
• (52:26) Bitcoin & remittences.
• (57:29) The reality of Bitcoin adoption in El Salvador.
• (59:51) Is there a connection between El Salvador & the Free Cities movement?

Free Cities Telegram Community: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://t.me/+im6c6r4jQkUzMjU0⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

LIBERTY IN OUR LIFETIME CONFERENCE: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://libertyinourlifetime.org/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Special Economic Zones Film:

gofundme: ⁠⁠⁠https://www.gofundme.com/f/zones-of-progress-film-about-the-future-of-cities⁠⁠⁠

Bitcoin: ⁠⁠⁠https://free-cities.org/donate/⁠⁠

TWITTER:

Tomer Kantor: https://twitter.com/TomerKantor

Timothy Allen: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

WEBSITES:

Bond To Unbind (Full Documentary): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jx-QWOHuug0

Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://free-cities.org/⁠⁠⁠