Bitcoin, whose prices are falling, is used by a minority of Salvadorans who consider this emblematic bet of President Nayib Bukele as “a failure”, according to an academic survey published on Tuesday.
Some 75.6% of respondents say they have never used cryptocurrency in 2022, and 77% consider that its adoption 14 months ago as legal tender, alongside the dollar, was a failure, reveals the survey conducted by the Jesuit University of Central America (UCA). Bitcoin is the most unpopular government measure, the most critical and the most poorly appreciated, said UCA rector Andreu Oliva, commenting on the results of the study.
President Bukele’s idea was promote money transfers some 3 million emigrants, mainly in the United States, to their relatives back home, saving bank charges. A strategic issue, since these transfers represent more than a quarter of El Salvador’s GDP. But according to data from the Salvadoran Central Bank in early September, a year after the introduction of bitcoin, less than 2% of migrant remittances went through cryptocurrency.
Collapse below $20,000
In September 2021, bitcoin was hovering around $45,000, then in November it hit $68,000 but after a steep drop it is currently trading below $20,000.
Taking advantage of the price drop, President Bukele bought 80 bitcoins with public funds in July, bringing El Salvador’s total reserves to 2,381 units. According to the UCA study, 77% of Salvadorans believe that their president should not continue to spend public money to buy bitcoin.
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The investigation also looked into the exceptional regime in place in El Salvador since March as part of the war on gangs decreed by Mr. Bukele, which led to the arrest of 55,000 alleged members of criminal gangs, the redoubtable slump. The population still overwhelmingly approves of it, 75.9%, but nine points less than in May (84.8%).
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