El Salvador President Nayib Bukele revealed a new digital wallet for bitcoin (quotation BTC), stating that citizens will get $ 30 after downloading it.
El Salvador has announced that it will release an official digital wallet for BTC and other currencies, according to a local media report released on June 24. The effort follows bitcoin's approval as legal tender in the country, which has brought a lot of attention to the Central American nation.
The new wallet is called Chivo and will form the basis for the daily use of the currency
President Nayib Bukele, who led the effort to recognize bitcoin as legal tender, said at a conference that the government would grant $ 30 in BTC after users downloaded the app. In his statement, he also touted the benefits of using bitcoin, such as remittances that can be made at any time of the day and disintermediation.
The app will be available on both Android and iOS. The wallet will also be compatible with other digital wallets on the market. It will be released later this year, with the bitcoin law taking effect on September 7.
Developments like this indicate that El Salvador is very excited to move forward with its bitcoin legalization. The law quickly moved from the conception stage to the approval stage, with little to stand in the way of its recognition. Some government ministers have referred to the challenges of making the property legal, for example in paying salaries to employees.
The International Monetary Fund has also raised doubts about El Salvador's decision to approve bitcoin. Their concerns largely relate to legal and macroeconomic issues, and officials have spoken to the country about them. The World Bank also denied support for El Salvador for making bitcoin legal tender.
Bitcoin experiment El Salvador
As the first country to make bitcoin legal tender, El Salvador will become an interesting sandbox to see how things develop for the asset. As legal tender, which means companies are forced to accept it if it is the chosen means of payment, BTC will play a much more significant role in the country's economy.
While citizens can choose to accept dollars, it will tell how many they choose to accept bitcoin. Its volatility could prove to be a problem, but then again, they also have to gain from holding the asset. As it stands, the citizens themselves don't seem to have talked much about the new law.
Other countries will likely look to El Salvador to see what the law does for the country, but others are not likely to follow suit anytime soon. Whether successful or not, El Salvador's acceptance of bitcoin will give us a first taste of the things that go for bitcoin when used in everyday life.
