1 minute ago Within 24 hours, cryptocurrency devotees on Twitter were claiming San Salvador as the world’s next big tech hub. Hours after Bukele announced El Salvador would be the first country to accept bitcoin payments for all government business, Justin Sun, founder of the cryptocurrency platform TRON, predicted “crypto investors and entrepreneurs” will move to El Salvador en masse. The country’s president, a former businessman, responded with his own pitch for bitcoin enthusiasts to immigrate to El Salvador citing tax savings, surfing beaches, and lax immigration requirements.
Divergent realities on the ground Crypto investors’ enthusiasm for moving to El Salvador reflects a broader trend in the tech world. In recent years, a subset of Silicon Valley’s tech workers have declared themselves ready to abandon the Bay Area and other high-cost US metropolises citing high taxes, scrutiny from local politicians, and hostility from residents who blame them for making their cities unaffordable. On Twitter, that angst has translated into a cycle of influential entrepreneurs exhorting their followers to move en masse to newer, friendlier tech hubs including Puerto Rico; Nevada; Austin, TX; Miami, FL; and more.