El Salvador’s government has lauded the adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender, saying it will be great for the economy.
The poor Central American country, which is reliant on remittances from Salvadorans abroad for nearly a quarter of gross domestic product (GDP), has become the first in the world to compel merchants and government departments to accept the digital coin.
Cash machines that take Bitcoin are being erected, taxes can now be paid by cryptocurrency and the government is offering $30 (€25.30) in Bitcoin credit to anyone who downloads the digital Chivo wallet.
But the plan has not gone down well with the public. Some 70% of Salvadorans are opposed to the move, according to a survey by Central American University (CAU). They say they’ll continue using the US dollar, the country’s legal currency for the last 20 years. Most of those surveyed said they want the new law allowing the currency’s adoption to be repealed.
Wild fluctuations in value
Bitcoin, the public says, is too volatile to be used by Salvadorans working overseas to send back to their families. After all, the world’s largest digital currency may be worth $51,051 at the time of writing on Tuesday, but in June was less than $30,000, having reached an all-time high of $64,000 a few months earlier.
El Salvador President Nayib Bukele argued that by adopting the cryptocurrency, Salvadorans will save money on remittance fees — collectively about $400 million a year. He also stressed that the digital coin is not obligatory. Even so, experts and regulators warned about the lack of protection for Bitcoin users, unlike a regular currency.
Over 2.5 million Salvadorans live abroad — mostly in the United States — and in 2020 they sent back almost $6 billion. A 2015 central bank study showed that over one-fifth of Salvadoran households rely on remittances to get by. They include tailor Julio Ramirez, whose daughters send money from the US.
“They say they’re not sending it that way because they think they might lose the money; that it won’t reach me,” the 60-year-old told Reuters news agency. “We’re not planning to take the risk at any time.”
Another resident, street vendor Mario Perez said the volatility and complexities around using Bitcoin had turned him off. “I’m not going to use it,” he told Reuters, as he went to collect a wire transfer from his sister in the US. “Neither for remittances nor for work.”
A protest in the capital, San Salvador, last week drew hundreds of people, including Jose Santos Melara, who complained how Bitcoin is not backed by any central bank.
‘Rich, not poor to benefit’
“This bitcoin is a currency that does not exist, a currency that will not benefit the poor but the rich,” Melara told AFP. “How will a poor person invest (in bitcoin) if they barely have enough to eat?”
Only 30% of Salvadorans had a bank account in 2017, according to the World Bank.
The Chivo platform will allow people to trade Bitcoin, including from 200 cash machines
Reuters spoke to 10 Salvadorans who send or receive remittances, and only one said they planned to use bitcoin.
Local media reported Monday that opposition lawmaker Claudia Ortiz has launched a bid to repeal the law.
“The population resents that this law was approved repeating the mistakes of the past: on the fly, early one morning, without consultation, without technical studies, without a credible explanation of how it would benefit the country,” Ortiz wrote on Twitter.
A new law compels merchants to accept Bitcoin; the cryptocurrency can even be used to pay taxes
Bitcoin law passed quickly
After all, the bill was approved within 24 hours of being presented to Congress – where the president’s allies have held a majority since March.
Laura Andrade, director of the Public Opinion Institute of CAU, also decried the lack of input from the public.
“These are decisions the administration and lawmakers have taken without consulting” the population, she told AFP news agency. “People do not perceive it will significantly transform their living conditions,” Andrade told the AFP news agency.
Analysts, meanwhile, fear adopting the cryptocurrency could fuel money laundering and other illegal activities.
After the bitcoin law was approved, rating agency Moody’s downgraded El Salvador’s creditworthiness, while the country’s dollar-denominated bonds have also come under pressure.
The US has urged the El Salvador government to ensure a “regulated,”https://www.dw.com/”transparent” and “responsible” use of bitcoin, and to protect itself from “malign actors” such as hackers seeking ransom money.
mm/ap (AFP, dpa, Reuters)