[ti:Salvadorans Concerned about President’s Plan to Use Bitcoin] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]When El Salvador makes bitcoin a legal currency on September 7, [00:05.32]it will become the first nation in the world to do so. [00:10.72]Bitcoin is decentralized, digital money [00:14.68]that can be sent from user to user on the bitcoin network. [00:20.68]Its value is not supported by any country’s central bank. [00:27.24]These forms of money are called cryptocurrency. [00:32.84]But in the “Excuartel” market of El Salvador’s capital, [00:36.56]sellers of goods are angry [00:39.16]that officials have not come to explain how it will work. [00:44.56]The feeling of unease extends beyond San Salvador’s “Excuartel” market [00:50.76]into the Central American country of 6.4 million people. [00:56.88]“We don’t know the currency. We don’t know where it comes from. [01:00.92]We don’t know if it’s going to bring us profit or loss,” [01:04.76]said Claudia Molina, a 42-year-old seller of T-shirts and souvenirs. [01:11.24]“They haven’t given us training. [01:13.84]They haven’t told us what we’re going to use [01:16.68]or how to make the change,” she added. [01:20.56]The government of President Nayib Bukele [01:23.48]has placed one of 200 banking machines at the “Excuartel” market. [01:29.68]They are supposed to permit bitcoins to be withdrawn [01:33.96]or changed into U.S. dollars without paying extra costs. [01:40.44]Reuters news agency spoke to some traders and shoppers in the market. [01:47.12]They said no official has explained how bitcoin works, [01:51.28]so most say they will not use it, at least to begin with. [01:56.88]In July, three out of four Salvadorans [02:00.64]had worries about the bitcoin plan, public opinion research showed. [02:08.28]Recently, about 300 protesters marched on El Salvador’s Congress [02:14.32]to demand that the new bitcoin law be stopped. [02:19.00]“Bukele, understand - in El Salvador we don’t want bitcoin,” [02:23.84]said a sign carried by one protestor. [02:28.44]Another protestor, 29-year-old student Roxy Hernández, [02:34.08]said most Salvadorans do not want to use bitcoin [02:38.12]and do not understand the law. [02:42.16]The law states that sellers must accept bitcoin payments [02:47.12]although Bukele has said it is not required for sellers or buyers of goods. [02:54.32]“The bitcoin law is something arbitrary by the government,” said Roxy. [03:00.92]Bukele has defended the law. [03:03.96]He said that use of the digital currency will not be required in the country. [03:10.36]He also said that bitcoin will permit Salvadorans [03:13.92]who live in other countries to send money to their families [03:18.24]without paying extra costs. [03:21.96]“Once it’s in effect, people will see the benefits,” [03:25.68]Bukele wrote on his twitter account last week. [03:30.44]Critics of Bukele’s plan say that using bitcoin is risky for two reasons. [03:37.64]They say the cryptocurrency’s value changes every day. [03:42.36]They also worry that it could be used [03:45.20]by corrupt officials to move money illegally. [03:50.16]“(The) bitcoin law promises many surprises,” said Steve Hanke, [03:55.32]an economist at Johns Hopkins University. [04:00.64]Hanke said it was “inconceivable” [04:03.64]that the bitcoin plan could escape guidelines set out [04:07.64]by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF). [04:11.80]It is an inter-governmental organization [04:14.88]that fights the illegal movement of money by corrupt officials. [04:20.96]Since El Salvador started using the U.S. dollar as its currency in 2001, [04:26.88]inflation has been just two percent, one of the lowest in Latin America. [04:34.16]Higher inflation, critics argue, could come from the use of a cryptocurrency [04:40.12]because its value changes often and by large amounts. [04:46.16]“I prefer the dollar, because we already know it and know it well, [04:50.44]there’s no problem. But as we don’t know (bitcoin), [04:53.84]we don’t know how it will work,” said Jose Guardado, [04:57.28]a farmer in an area north of San Salvador. [05:03.20]The World Bank and the International Monetary Fund [05:06.92]have pointed to environmental and transparency worries [05:11.20]over the use of bitcoin. [05:14.28]After the bitcoin law passed, [05:16.64]credit rating agency Moody’s lowered El Salvador’s credit rating. [05:23.00]Hanke believes that Bukele’s ideas will end with economic problems. [05:30.00]“For the United States, this would mean yet another wave of migrants [05:34.32]from an unstable Central American failed state,” he said. [05:40.00]I’m Jonathan Evans. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM