With memes, the Cryptoverse mocks the IMF’s Bitcoin threats to El Salvador, and BTC rises.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued a directive to weaken or rather do away with a law enforced last year that went ahead to make Bitcoin (BTC) legal tender.

Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s President hit back at the IMF with a dismissive Twitter meme by using footage from the popular TV show “The Simpsons.”

Meanwhile, despite what appears to be bitcoin’s latest pressure, the cryptocurrency appears to be moving up today. BTC is up to 3.7% at 9:32 over the prior 24 hours and trading at USD 37,824. BTC is down nearly 11% in a week.

IMF noted in their latest press release that its company directors had “urged” the Government of El Salvador to “narrow the scope of bitcoin law by removing bitcoin’s legal tender status, ” and adding that “some directors” had “also expressed concern over the risks associated with issuing bitcoin-backed bonds.”

Bukele has big plans to come up with a tax-free haven, mainly for offshore BTC advocates by the name Bitcoin City, while ensuring that they fund it using bonds backed by BTC.

According to the IMF, there was a “need for strict regulation and oversight of the new ecosystem of the [state-run Chivo BTC wallet] and bitcoin.”

For decades, El Salvador has been largely dependent on IMF financial support, and the organization could make good of their threat by cutting off or suspending their aid to El Salvador.

However, Bukele is of the opinion that his new allies of the BTC community will be helpful in his bid to attain what many see as his primary goal – detaching from Washington and USD’s sphere of influence.

Blockstream Chief Strategy Officer, who also happens to be a key ally of Bukele’s vision by the name Samson Mow, brushed aside IMF’s statement terming it as “irrelevant.”

In an excerpt video interview shared by Mow, he explained: “I don’t think these organizations like the IMF and the World Bank are really relevant in a world based on bitcoin. They can make money out of thin air. You can’t do that on a bitcoin standard.”

A Twitter account owned by Bitcoin Beach – a resort that has been administering a bitcoin-based economy for quite a long time, may have inspired Bukele in adopting a statewide BTC economy, also celebrated the number of “bullish” memes that are in circulation supporting El Salvador.

Bitcoin Beach shared a meme depicting an uncontrollable horse flattening who was trying out all that she could to stop the horse’s charge – equating the woman with the IMF and horse with El Salvador. They also sent a message of defiance.

Castle Ventures partner Nic Carter said that it will come a time when Bitcoin will outlive the IMF. Meanwhile, other people were of the opinion that IMF was attempting to shut the stable door after the horse had already bolted off.

There were some suggestions Bukele was becoming a minor annoyance for the IMF, with a certain Twitter poster going ahead to use the famous scene from the movie “The Shining” in an attempt to drive the point home.

That’s not all. Still, there were other people with the argument that the move by IMF depicts exactly the need to have Bitcoin, with the host of the Smart People Shit podcast Dennis Porter saying, “the IMF having to ask El Salvador to stop using Bitcoin is exactly why this technology is so powerful.” If the country doesn’t comply, the citizens “can still have access to a global financial rail,” wrote Porter.

However, there are those of the contrary opinion who believe that Bukele’s defiance of the IMF and Washington isn’t a smart move. Anita Posch, Bitcoin podcaster and author wrote saying the “keys to the some BTC 1,300 held by El Salvador are with the United States company BitGo.”

Posch further stated: “International organizations and the United States government could force BitGo to cut off El Salvador’s access to its custodial cold storage. Who has the keys to the funds of Salvadorans using the Chivo wallet?”

On the other hand, the Founder of WalletScrutiny, Leo Wandersleb concurred by saying: “[Bukele is] poking the bear, but as far as I can see, he’s sleeping in the bear’s cave. I would have nightmares non-stop being this kind of vulnerable to a hostile nation.”

There are suggestions that this year, plenty of other nations will join El Salvador in making Bitcoin legal tender. CoinShares, in its outlook report for the year, states that other “comparably situated sovereigns” keenly watching to see the economic benefits that may be realized as a result of BTC adoption in El Salvador.

CoinShares notes that El Salvador is playing the role that a canary assumes in the coal mine for other jurisdictions that are keenly following everything from the sidelines. The authors of the report wrote:

“If the data coming out of El Salvador later this year show significant benefits from including bitcoin in the national currency selection, other countries will soon follow suit.”