The adoption of bitcoin as legal tender has introduced some controversy — but also undeniable benefits to the country.
This is an opinion editorial by Gaby Vivas, an entrepreneur in Latin America providing outsourcing services worldwide and a long-term investor in bitcoin.
El Salvador made history by becoming the first state to use bitcoin as legal tender when it was
People outside of the country are enthusiastic about the change in El Salvador but because of the lack of understanding of Bitcoin, people inside are often hesitant to trust the new economic system that President Bukele instituted a year ago.
Other countries in Latin America are already attempting to replicate the Salvadoran model. Leaders from the central banks of Paraguay, Haiti, Honduras, Ecuador, Costa Rica and Dominican Republic have already had meetings with Bukele.
According to the World Tourism Organization. El Salvador is now ranked 13th out of the 15 countries listed, showing up amongst the top-performing destinations in terms of revenue in the first five months of 2022.
According to Bitcoin Magazine, the country is on track to earn $99 million more from tourism this year compared to 2019.
In fact, support for Nayib Bukele has increased compared to the rest of the Presidents in Latin America. The latest survey by La Prensa Grafica Newspaper gave President Nayib Bukele an 87% approval rate after three years in office. 86.8% of Salvadorans responding said that they approve of the work President Nayib Bukele has done after three years in office.
But, what do people actually think about El Salvador’s bitcoin adoption?
An anonymous citizen in El Salvador told us they have not seen any change in the economy, and that few people use bitcoin for their own transactions. People do not feel secure about the usage and implementation of bitcoin.
People are still very distrustful because they do not know if the Bitcoin network is secure. The Chivo Wallet which has been plagued with issues and has had a mixture of effects on the roll-out according to the anonymous citizen. There has not been enough education and there are very few people who have been able to educate themselves.
“There is still not enough access to the internet in El Salvador. Different plans to bring satellites did not happen yet and everything is still in the pipeline,” they stated.
El Salvador´s internet penetration rate stood at 50.5% of the total population at the start of 2022.
Despite these concerns the country continues to lean into development surrounding Bitcoin and the infrastructure necessary to facilitate this. In the end, it is yet to be seen if their bet on Bitcoin will pay off.
This is a guest post by Gaby Vivas. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.