Earlier this month, El Salvador made history with the introduction of the world’s first-ever Bitcoin (BTC) law. Bitcoin is now a national currency and legal tender in the Central American country.
Nayib Bukele, the controversial president of El Salvador, announced on September 25 that the new “Chivo” bitcoin wallet is now used by as many as 2.1 million Salvadorans. That is more than 30% of the total population of El Salvador.
Bukele adds that Chivo “now has more users than any bank in El Salvador” and that it is only a matter of time before it will have more users than all the banks in El Salvador combined.
2.1 million Salvadorans are ACTIVELY USING @chivowallet (not download).
Chivo is not a bank, but in less than 3 weeks, it now has more users than any bank in El Salvador and is moving fast to have more users that ALL BANKS IN EL SALVADOR combined.
This is wild!#Bitcoin🇸🇻
— Nayib Bukele 🇸🇻 (@nayibbukele) September 25, 2021
However, the launch of Chivo was not without problems. Many Salvadorans complained that they couldn’t get the app to work and could not register. The Bitcoin law was also not received with open arms by everyone in the country. It even led to massive demonstrations, although they were mainly directed against the authoritarian regime of Bukele. Nevertheless, a Chivo kiosk was set on fire.
However, the bitcoin price has fallen considerably since the introduction of the law in El Salvador. The price was still around $50,000 on September 7 and dipped to $40,000 several times last week. Yet Bukele was not deterred by that, he “bought the dip” several times. No fewer than 290 Chivo ATMs have now been installed.
This morning the entire cryptocurrency market dipped down again, but at the time of writing, the prices seem to break out unexpectedly. Bitcoin is currently up 6%, was able to break right through $43,000 where there was too much resistance yesterday, and appears to be attempting to recapture $44,000. Ethereum (ETH) is even up 9% and is back above USD 3,000.
