TL;DR Breakdown
- One-third of Salvador residents now use Chivo wallet.
- More Salvadorians now using Bitcoin than Banks.
President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, has revealed that 2.1 million Salvadorians are actively using the state-backed Chivo wallet.
The president announced via a tweet on his verified Twitter page just three weeks after the Bitcoin law came into effect.
His tweet reveals that one-third of Salvadorians have already embraced Bitcoin in the country, according to data from the World Bank, which puts it population at 6.45 million people.
In such a short time (three weeks), the Bitcoin law has financially included around 32.5 percent of the Salvadorian population. This is as the country has about 70 percent of its residents unbanked.
The president noted that Bitcoin users in the country are now more than customers of any bank in El Salvador and is moving fast to have more users than all banks in El Salvador combined.
El Salvador Chivo Wallet app
The government in the Central American country launched the Chivo wallet on the day El Salvador officially recognized Bitcoin as legal tender.
The move was a landmark achievement in the country as it drew praises from different corners both in the country and abroad.
However, the Bitcoin law and Chivo wallet app launch also led to criticism of the government from locals and groups in El Salvador.
Chivo wallet allows individuals and businesses to send and receive payments in Bitcoin or dollars from anywhere in the world, integrating the speed the lightning network brings.
Towards ensuring many Salvadorians download the Chivo wallet, the government airdropped $30 BTC to every new user’s account.
President Bukele’s update about how well the wallet has been downloaded indicates that the Bitcoin law saw favorable reception across the country even though many Salvadorians have no idea of what Bitcoin is and protest and criticism that rocked the country against the Bitcoin law.
