Bitcoin (BTC) adoption continues to gain momentum in El Salvador according to President Nayib Bukele’s recent announcement on Twitter. In his tweet last October 16, he shared that more people are exchanging their United States Dollars (USD) to buy BTC and this amount has reached up to $3,069,761.05 in one day.
According to President Bukele on Twitter last October 16, ‘people are inserting way more USD to buy BTC’ compared to the amount they withdraw from their accounts in the digital wallet service, Chivo. He then added that Chivo confirmed to have received 24,076 remittance requests. On another hand, he asked media outlets to independently confirm the facts by visiting the ATMs.
In a report by crypto news site Cointelegraph last October 16, this increase in the dollar-to-Bitcoin conversions in El Salvador is proof of the change of opinion of the general public. Initially, Salvadorans were against the Bitcoin Law and many protested in the streets based on the Twitter post of the local newspaper, Diario El Mundo on July 20, 2021. Many complained about the cryptocurrency’s volatility and that it could be subject to money laundering.
However, there are now more than 200 ATMs all over El Salvador after they officially adopted BTC as a legal tender as based on the same report from Cointelegraph. It is now the third-largest network in the world, following the United States and Canada. The local government also offered various subsidies for people using BTC like fuel subsidies and tax exemptions.
On another note, President Bukele recently shared their plans to invest $4 million worth of profits from their BTC holdings in making a new veterinary hospital through a Twitter post last October 10. He mentioned the different facilities to expect including four emergency rooms and 19 offices among others.
On June 5, 2021, President Bukele announced BTC as a legal tender in El Salvador during a press conference in Miami. Then a few days after, the official Bitcoin Law was passed and took effect on September 7, 2021.
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