Just a month after BTC became the official currency in El Salvador, there are more Chivo wallets there than traditional bank accounts.
The crypto world has been watching El Salvador for almost exactly a month. Its head of state Nayib Bukele finally ushered in a new era by making Bitcoin legal tender. The debut did not go exactly smoothly, riots and burning BTC machines were reported. But now the waves have calmed down a bit. Lo and behold: remarkably, after just one month there are now more Salvadorans with Bitcoin wallets than with a traditional bank account.
Chivo Wallet downloaded three million times
According to Bukele, three million people have downloaded the Chivo bitcoin wallet, which is 46 percent of the population. In contrast, only 29 percent of Salvadorans had a bank account in 2017. El Salvador’s president is loud Reuters suggested that his compatriots seem to be converting US dollars to Bitcoin in particular and keeping the digital currency.
Since yesterday, Salvadorans have been throwing more cash into the Chivo wallet ATM to buy Bitcoin than they are withdrawing from there. At such an early point in time, that’s astonishing
, tweeted the president.
In particular, the concept of financial inclusion seems to be bearing fruit. Therefore, the Chivo wallet is for low-income Salvadorans who have a smartphone but no bank account, according to Forbes greater.