Bitcoin wrong – 80% of El Salvador’s people think the president’s crypto program is a disaster
Bitcoin took the internet by storm in 2021 when El Salvador – the smallest country in South America – announced that it will make the cryptocurrency legal tender.
The plan was first made public during the 2021 Bitcoin Conference held in Miami through a video by El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele who shared the nation’s plan to pass a bill that will make Bitcoin means of payment.
Bukele said the move was to make it easier for people living abroad to send remittances to their relatives back home.
9 June 2021 Bitcoin law was adopted by the country’s legislative assembly when 62 of the 84 deputies voted for it.
The government then announced that it was setting aside $150 million to be used as a fund to support the approved legal measure. Officials even said they would give $30 in BTC to individuals who will sign up for an electronic wallet called “Chivo.”
But more than a year after crypto’s historic adoption in the country, things did not turn out the way the El Salvador government expected.
Bitcoin adoption failed on all fronts
According to findings from a research study conducted by the University of Central America (UCA), around 77% of El Salvadorans believe that the use of Bitcoin as legal tender in their country was a massive error.
Moreover, 75.6% of the people revealed that they have not used cryptocurrencies this year. Such a development is surprising considering the administration of Bukele has made efforts to popularize the digital asset class.
Bitcoin is accepted in El Salvador as a means of payment for products and services. Photo from BBC/Reuters.
The idea of the government using public funds to accumulate BTC also did not go down well with citizens, as 77% of them said such actions should stop immediately.
Regarding Bitcoin’s supposed benefit in making it easier to send money transfers, a September 2022 report from the Salvadoran Central Bank revealed that only 2% of transfers involved digital currencies.
El Salvador: Defiant and confident
Bukele picked the best time to venture into Bitcoin last year, when the crypto finally reached an all-time high of around $69,000 last November.
However, with the volatile nature of the crypto space, the El Salvador government experienced severe losses when the BTC price plunged and is currently struggling to mount another bull run.
At press time, according to tracking from CoingeckoBitcoin is trading at $19,173, down more than 70% from its all-time high.
Even with calls to reverse the highly controversial Bitcoin law, Bukele remains optimistic as their strategy is yet to take off.
With that, instead of focusing on the negative reception the law has received from the masses, the government is dedicating its time and resources to realizing the goal of turning the country into a global crypto hub.
BTC total market cap at $366 billion on the daily chart | Featured image from Nayib Bukele Twitter, Chart: TradingView.com
