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El Salvador pro-Bitcoin president Nayib Bukele launches re-election bid

October 30, 2023 Coin Telegraph

bitcoin adoption

Despite Bukele’s popularity, some critics argue he isn’t eligible to be re-elected under El Salvador’s constitution.

El Salvador president Nayib Bukele has filed paperwork to be re-elected in the country’s upcoming 2024 presidential election in February.

Bukele, a Bitcoin advocate, received strong support from the public on Oct. 26 after he was officially nominated by his party to run for re-election.

“Five more [years], five more and not one step back,” Bukele said in a speech in front of thousands of El Salvadorans. “We need five years to continue improving our country,” he added.

| ÚLTIMA HORA: Al grito de “cinco más, cinco más y ni un paso atrás” Nayib Bukele da su discurso delante de miles de Salvadoreños luego de inscribir su candidatura presidencial para la reelección. “Necesitamos 5 años para seguir mejorando nuestro país.” pic.twitter.com/ApaP8yyQBm
— Eduardo Menoni (@eduardomenoni) October 27, 2023

Bukele rose to power in 2019 when his political party, Neuva (New) Ideas, broke three decades of two-party dominance between the Nationalist Republican Alliance and the Farabundo Martí National Liberation Front (FMNLB).

However, despite his popularity among the local population, critics such as El Salvadoran lawyer Alfonso Fajardo maintain that the country’s constitution prohibits Bukele isn’t eligible to seek a second consecutive term.

“Today is a good day to remember that immediate presidential re-election is prohibited up to 7 times by the Constitution,” he said on Oct. 26.

Nayib Bukele is running for reelection in El Salvador despite the fact that it’s prohibited in 7 articles of the constitution. The constitution drafted after our peace accords, after our bloody civil war. This is unconstitutional. https://t.co/ordgib7WMq
— Daniel Alvarenga (@puchicadanny) October 27, 2023

However, in September 2021, El Salvador’s Supreme Court ruled that presidents can run for consecutive elections.

New Ideas is backed by 70% of the country’s voting population, according to Reuters, which cited a study by an El Salvadoran university. Its closest competitor only received 4% of the total votes.

One of New Ideas’ competitors, FMNLB, filed a lawsuit in June 2021 claiming Bukele’s Bitcoin adoption program is unconstitutional. However, that complaint made little ground as Bukele and El Salvador made Bitcoin legal tender three months later September 2021.

The Bukele government has also implemented other tech-friendly policies aimed at strengthening the country’s economy, such as eliminating all taxes on technological innovations.

Gabor Gurbacs, a VanEck strategy advisor, recently said that El Salvador has the potential to become the “Singapore of the Americas.”

Much of Bukele’s popularity comes from his heavy-handed crackdown against MS-13, a multi-national gang which contributed towards El Salvador recording the highest homicide rates in the world six years ago.

As a result of the crackdown, El Salvador's homicide rate has fallen a staggering 92.6% from its peak of 106 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2015 to 7.8 in 2022. It now boasts one of the lowest crime rates in Latin America.

However, the United Nations and other critics argue El Salvador breached human rights laws by imprisoning 65,000 without affording them legal rights to defend themselves.

El Salvador’s presidential election will take place on Feb. 4, 2024.

Magazine: What it’s actually like to use Bitcoin in El Salvador

Robinhood beats investors’ appeal in GameStop meme stock case

August 11, 2023 Coin Telegraph

Appeal

The appeals court judge said Robinhood “had the right” to impose restrictions on meme trade purchases.

A United States federal appeals court has upheld a decision to dismiss an investor class action lawsuit against online brokerage firm Robinhood Markets over its meme stock trading debacle in early 2021.

A total of 16 investors took part in a class action lawsuit against the trading platform in September 2021, alleging the firm restricted them from purchasing 13 “meme stocks” when hedge funds were being short squeezed in January 2021.

This stopped them reaping the profits and also caused the share prices of these stocks to plummet, they alleged.

Robinhood won a motion to dismiss the complaint in January 2022, citing the plaintiff's failure to state a claim, plaintiffs then went on to argue the decision in the U.S. appeals court in March 2023.

However, it appears the investors have hit another setback as the appeals judge has upheld the decision to dismiss the lawsuit, with U.S. Appellate Court Judge Britt Grant saying the arguments lacked legal merit.

She explained that Robinhood “had the right to do exactly what they did” because they were not legally obligated to protect these investors from pure economic loss.

This is because Robinhood was, and still is legally permitted to restrict its customers’ ability to trade securities and to refuse to accept any of their transactions, Judge Grant added.

*The U.S. Appellate Court’s concluding remarks, affirming the lower court’s decision to dismiss the plaintiff’s case.*

If the investors decide to pursue the matter further, their next and final route will be through the U.S. Supreme Court — the highest court in the U.S. However, they will need to file a petition for a "writ of certiorari," which is a document asking the Supreme Court to review the case.

The Supreme Court takes on about 100-150 cases from over 7,000 reviews, so the plaintiff’s chances of having its case heard once more are likely slim.

The GameStop short squeeze happened in January 2021, which was initially triggered by users of the /wallstreetbets subreddit.

The strategy of the short squeeze was to cause big losses for Wall Street firms shorting these particular stocks, and by doing so, profiting themselves.

Another 12 stocks became part of the frenzy, including AMC Entertainment, American Airlines Group, Blackberry, Bed, Bath & Beyond, and Trivago.

GameStop stocks were however one of the largest gainers of the Reddit-fueled price pump, increasing over 9,900% from $0.86 to over $86 between Apr. 2020 and Jan. 2021, according to Macrotrends.net.

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Apple’s 30% tax rules will stay for now, crypto and NFTs may have to wait

August 10, 2023 Coin Telegraph

App Store

A Supreme Court judge has rejected a request from Epic Games that would've immediately loosened Apple's App Store payment rules, to the potential benefit of crypto and NFT apps.

Crypto app developers hoping for a loosening of Apple's App Store rules will have to wait longer after a United States Supreme Court held off on granting a request to let apps direct users to payments outside of Apple’s ecosystem.

An Aug. 9 decision from Justice Elena Kagan declined to let a federal appeals court decision take immediate effect as Epic had asked — with no explanation for the decision.

Not surprisingly, the Supreme Court (by decision of Justice Kagan, who is the SCOTUS judge to whom such 9th Cir. matters are assigned) denied Epic Games' motion to enforce the injunction it won in district court 2 years ago.

Epic was right; legal standard favored Apple.

1/3 pic.twitter.com/UnpnphgapG
— Florian Mueller (@FOSSpatents) August 9, 2023

In April, the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit ruled Apple violated California’s competition laws by not allowing apps to direct users to non-Apple linked payment solutions.

The ruling meant that developers such as Epic Games would be able to funnel users to alternative payment methods, giving them an option that circumvents Apple’s 30% tax on in-app payments.

The 30% Apple tax has also been a hurdle for crypto firms, including those that want to offer iOS users the ability to purchase non-fungible tokens.

At the moment, there exists no means to buy an NFT on an app listed on Apple’s App Store other than through its in-app payments system, which charges a 30% commission rate and only allows purchases using fiat.

Apple has REALLY tight rules regarding any app that is used on their devices. typically they require a 30% tax on all financial transactions, but bc that's impossible with crypto the way it is, they just ban the apps that have direct links/usage to swapping and trading.
— Caleeeb (@adacaleeeb) August 7, 2023

Apple’s guidelines don’t allow apps to take crypto to unlock app functionality or make in-app purchases using crypto.

This has led to most crypto apps offering only limited functionality, such as being able to view balances and assets only. Crypto exchange apps are unaffected.

Justice Kagan’s rejection of Epic’s request means Apple will get at least a few more months of reprieve from the ruling as it plans a Supreme Court appeal to the decision.

The Ninth Circuit ruling will come into effect if the Supreme Court refuses Apple’s appeal, however.

In its argument to lift the appeals court hold Epic claimed it applied a “lax legal standard” in granting the stay which would injure Epic and “innumerable consumers and other app developers for a significant period of time.”

Apple hit back saying the stay has been in place for two years already and doesn’t apply to Epic anyway. Apple booted Epic’s Fortnite off the App Store in August 2020 for attempting to workaround Apple’s in-app payments system.

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