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Consumers in El Salvador can now use bitcoin to buy everything from Big Macs and Starbucks coffee to big-ticket items like automobiles. But don’t be overly impressed by the cryptocurrency’s newfound status as legal tender in the Central American nation. It isn’t the watershed moment in monetary history that true believers claim. Being the first nation to adopt bitcoin is a great way to make headlines, but a policy decision as big as this for any nation should be backed by indisputable rationale. And El Salvador’s decision to embrace bitcoin is a significant gamble by President Nayib Bukele. Protesters are now taking to the streets to express fears related to crypto-market instability and the risk of inflation. And they have reason to worry. In the case of bitcoin—which ironically wasn’t designed to work in tandem with a fiat currency or need government support—viability as a currency will take much more than enabling legislation. Although the world is likely to eventually warm up to digital currencies, how things shake out in the crypto space could be poles apart from the contemporary scene. If you are interested in government policies that will influence the future of crypto, China’s pilot project on introducing a digital yuan is where you should be looking.

• International Business