Latin America's cryptocurrency

Since mid-2021 the small Central American republic of El Salvador has placed itself at the vanguard of Latin America's experimentation with cryptocurrencies. How well - or how badly - the experiment works in a country with a population of 6.5m is being closely watched by regional giants such as Brazil (population of 212m) and Mexico (129m). By way of background, it is important to note that in February 2019 Nayib Bukele, a populist and self-declared political outsider, achieved a sweeping victory in the presidential race, gaining 53% of the vote, which made a second-round run-off unnecessary.