From today, September 7, the cryptocurrency bitcoin is already a legal tender in El Salvador, as the government approved at the beginning of last June, just a couple of days after the president made that proposal. This announcement makes the Central American country the first country where bitcoin is a legal tender. The protests generated have not stopped this decision.
In addition, along with this new measure in the country, where bitcoin will now coexist with the US dollar as legal currency, Nayib Bukele, president of the country, has announced the purchase of 200 coins, so there are now 400 bitcoin coins in El Salvador. 400 bitcoins are today about 20 million dollars (17.2 million euros).
El Salvador just bought 200 new coins.
We now hold 400 #bitcoin#BitcoinDay 🇸🇻
– Nayib Bukele 🇸🇻 (@nayibbukele) September 6, 2021
According words of the entrepreneur Justin Sun, cryptocurrency lover, protégé of Jack Ma (CEO of Alibaba) and creator and CEO of Tron, ** El Salvador is probably one of the countries in the world with the most bitcoin coins ** and the businessman predicts that this will attract the cryptocurrency business worldwide to the American country.
Welcome to the Chivo app: this is how it works
With the arrival of bitcoin as the official currency, Chivo also arrives on the market, which is “the official wallet of bitcoin and dollar of the Government of El Salvador.” It is an official government application that has been created to be available on Android, iOS and Huawei (HarmonyOS), according to official sources. However, on Twitter there are those who are asking Apple, Google and Huawei to release them. The president of the country and even the app itself have made this request in the social network of tweets.
Those who register in Chivo Wallet they will get a bonus of $ 30 in bitcoin. There are Chivo points located throughout the country, especially in its capital, as can be seen in the map shared by those responsible for the app, and there are also ATMs. These ATMs will be open every day.
This platform has to be used to withdraw money, make purchases in establishments and shops and to send money. Both in bitcoin and in dollars (since 2001, this is the official currency of the country, when the US currency replaced the colon).
Regarding the sending of money that Chivo promises to allow, it must be remembered that many people born in El Salvador have emigrated and that leads to a large movement of remittancesAccording to the Central Reserve Bank of El Salvador, in 2020 this Central American country received in remittances close to 6,000 million dollars.
The use of Chivo is free so there are no commissions to send or receive between Chivo Wallet users. Nevertheless, who wants to send bitcoin to another wallet on the market the transaction will enter the bitcoin network, and therefore a commission is generated that must be paid by the user who sends the money. You can send money starting at 1 cent and up to $ 1,000 in one day and $ 3,000 in a month.
It should be remembered that with the Law that the government approved a few months ago, All businesses in El Salvador are obliged to accept payment in bitcoin (Article 7 of the Bitcoin Law). But they have the freedom to decide whether to receive bitcoin or convert it to dollars automatically and then withdraw it if they wish. They can use Chivo, but it is not mandatory, so another option is to use other wallets. In any case, the accounting will be kept in dollars.
Cover photo VIA | Binance