The Bitcoin Application in El Salvador Has Not Aroused the Interest of Local People

NBER estimates that only 40% of Salvadorans downloaded the Chivo Wallet because almost everyone downloaded it last September.

According to the National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER), a US non-profit organization, most Salvadorans (60%) have not downloaded Chivo Wallet (a function to promote bitcoin trading). In addition, there have been few downloads since September 2021, when the country became the first country to adopt the asset as legal tender.

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There Has Been No Progress in the Adoption of Bitcoin in El Salvador

Last year, the Central American country became the first country to accept bitcoin as an official payment method in its territory, making headlines. Despite the high enthusiasm surrounding the news, this initiative was not warmly welcomed by all Salvadorans. Some even took to the streets to protest the government’s decision.

A recent study conducted by NBER shows that the adoption of bitcoin by most locals is still quite negative. The study pointed out that 68% of the country’s residents knew about the existence of Chivo Wallet , but only 40% downloaded it. In addition, almost all downloads took place in September last year (shortly after El Salvador officially recognized the main cryptocurrency as legal tender).

NBER further estimated that 75% of respondents with Chivo Wallet accounts would not download it without the $30 BTC each citizen received at the time of registration.

“Although most respondents spent $30 in bonuses, less than half of those who downloaded Chivo Wallet continued to use it after spending the bonuses – 20% of all respondents. In addition, most users who used chivo after spending $30 in bonuses did not use the app intensively,” the organization said.

Subsequently, NBER believes that using bitcoin as legal tender may have some positive impact on El Salvador, but this digital asset is still not accepted by the local people to a large extent.

“In general, despite bitcoin’s legal tender status and a large number of incentives implemented by the government, cryptocurrency is basically not accepted as a medium of exchange in El Salvador.”

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Benefits of Bitcoin for El Salvador

Although a large number of local people still do not accept such assets, it is worth mentioning that BTC has provided some benefits to the country.First, shortly after the decision to accept it as legal tender, the number of global Google searches for the name of this small Central American country soared to a new high in a year.

In addition to showing virtual interest in the country, people began to visit it more than before. Earlier this year, Morena Valdez, Minister of tourism of El Salvador, pointed out that since the adoption of BTC, the inflow of tourists has increased by more than 30%.