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dexter0

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Despite these profits, crypto has brought El Salvador more costs than benefits. The free publicity has been welcome, yet crypto-investment and crypto-tourism have been small beer. Gains in financial inclusion and from more efficient payments are meagre at best: the currency never really caught on. In 2022, when the hype was at its peak, a survey by CID-Gallup found that only a fifth of firms accepted bitcoin and just 5% of tax payments were in crypto.

Moreover, the policy cost $375m in all—from the Chivo rollout, subsidised transaction fees, bitcoin ATMs and more—according to Moody’s, a rating agency. That far exceeds the profits on bitcoin holdings, which could still evaporate. By delaying an IMF deal, the crypto experiment kept El Salvador’s risk premium high.

In the immediate aftermath of Synapse's bankruptcy, which happened after an exodus of its fintech clients, a court-appointed trustee found that up to $96 million of customer funds was missing. The mystery of where those funds are hasn't been solved, despite six months of court-mediated efforts between the four banks involved.

This is the real question.

Wouldn't a contingent election scenario be impossible unless a third-party candidate won one or more states?

You've made a calculation: my value to the company is greater than $150K, and $150K is a price you're willing to pay to leverage that value.

Part of that value calculus was that you are willing to relocate (or already reside in) the Bay Area. In other words, if the company offered only $90K and still required you to live in the Bay Area, you and most other qualified candidates would balk at the offer.

The only thing that changed is where I choose to reside. What difference is that to the company?

Clearly the company is betting that if you walk away instead of accepting the pay cut, they will be able to find another qualified candidate among the now much larger talent pool they are able to court with remote work.