Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s president, claims that over 2.1 million residents are utilizing the new Chivo Wallet, which was launched after El Salvador became the first country to embrace Bitcoin as legal money on 7th September 2021. Initially, the president promoted it as a means of attracting foreign investment to the country. The goal of President Bukele’s government is to reach 2.5 million Salvadorans, or around 39% of the country’s population. When individuals download the Chivo wallet software, the government will give them $30 in Bitcoin as a bonus.
Bitcoin investors from outside the United States are free from paying out the capital gains tax on their profits from Bitcoin and will acquire permanent residence. The Chivo wallet also allows free cross-border payments, saving $400 million of Salvadorans in remittance fees each year. The Latin American Bitso crypto platform supplies the Chivo wallet with backend technology and FOREX services and custody.
Bitcoin Acceptance
The government-endorsed digital wallet accepts payments in BTC and USD, and businesses must take both, prompting some retailers to claim they would end up losing sales than accepting payments in Bitcoin. El Salvador now has more than 200 Bitcoin ATMs, making it the country with the third-highest number of ATMs behind the United States and Canada.
The opposition of Civil to Bitcoin Adoption
Bitcoin is fully recognized, as one individual reported being unable to use Cryptocurrency to pay for the government-issued certificate. During the first introduction, there were several glitches, and one machine only completed three transactions even though there was a large queue of consumers in the first week. Many people are wary about Bitcoin due to its erratic nature and the possibility of losing money.
In response to a complaint filed by Cristosal, a regional human rights and transparency organization, El Salvador’s Accounting Court has begun an investigation into how the government acquires Bitcoin.
