- In view of the repeated complaints and criticism, the government has contracted the services of an American company to try to correct the flaws.
- Problems with the Chivo Wallet range from failed transactions, to missing funds.
- A mayor’s office in El Salvador will start collecting taxes in BTC.
The government of El Salvador is seeking to solve the serious technical flaws of the Chivo Wallet. Since the installation of Bitcoin as legal tender in the country, the states smartphone application for Bitcoin has experienced an array of technical problems.
Users have reported phishing, download failures, and even the disappearance of funds. In an attempt to try and correct these flaws in the digital wallet, the Salvadoran government has contracted the technological support services of American company ‘Alphapoint.’
The company “is adding its experience to offer financial services and access to bitcoin for millions of Salvadorans who are active using the Chivo wallet,” the government of Nayib Bukele revealed in an official press release.
The Chivo Wallet was an initiative to “provide millions of Salvadorans the opportunity to learn about the advantages of using bitcoin, access financial services, pay for goods and services, as well as the possibility of receiving and sending remittances without charging commissions,” the bulletin explained.
However, operational failures with the Chivo Wallet have been reported since as early as September 8th, just one day after the Bitcoin Law came into force. Among them, was lack of interoperability with other wallets, since transactions made were facing extreme delays, or failed to materialize at all.
Likewise, operational failures were detected with some bank accounts, which forced the government to try to intervene by carrying out periodic maintenance. Despite this, problems with the Chivo Wallet have persisted, as the local press has since reported.
On the Flipside
- Hundreds of complaints have been made about the operations of the digital wallet.
- Adding to the woes of those facing operational failures are the losses incurred by BTC investors due to the recent bear market.
President Bukele has not given up and continues to encourage Salvadorans to use the wallet. Recently the Salvadoran leader predicted on his Twitter account that Bitcoin will soon have “a gigantic price increase.”
He also remains unperturbed by repeated calls from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the government to revoke the law recognizing BTC as legal tender, due to its inherent financial destabilization risks.
In addition to Alphapoint, which provides asset trading, brokerage and tokenization services, El Salvador is being assisted by the Athena Bitcoin company which originally developed the Chivo Wallet and manufactures BTC ATMs.
It is unclear whether the Salvadoran government will retain Athena’s services or not. The company was in charge of developing the salary payment project in BTC Vanguard 1, for the workers who prefer it. The software allows the automatic exchange of dollars to BTC.
Tax Payments with BTC
Meanwhile, the Ilopango mayor’s office has invited citizens and residents to pay their taxes using bitcoin. The mayor of the city close to capital city San Salvador, José Chicas, a supporter of Bukele, wrote on Twitter:
“Ilopango, welcome to the future. Now you can make your payments with the @ChivoWallet without paying fines or commissions. The taxes you pay are the work that we need.”
The mayor has not offered any precise details regarding the BTC tax payment program.
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