El Salvador Seeing Influx of Dollars Into BTC as Bitcoin Prices Rise

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele tweeted about the growth of Bitcoin in the country.

By Radhika Parashar | Updated: 18 October 2021 13:53 IST

El Salvador Seeing Influx of Dollars Into BTC as Bitcoin Prices Rise

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele supports the growth of Bitcoin

Highlights

Crypto adoption is growing in El Salvador
President Nayib Bukele has revealed statistics on Twitter
Crypto enthusiasts have applauded El Salvador on social media

Nayib Bukele, the crypto-supporting President of El Salvador, revealed that more US dollars are being poured in to be exchanged for Bitcoin. Asking local media outlets to investigate and confirm the development, Bukele tweeted that Salvadorans are “inserting way more USD than what they are withdrawing from the Chivo ATMs”. Chivo is a government-backed cryptocurrency wallet, functional in El Salvador. Earlier, Bukele had revealed that Chivo was being used by over two million Salvadorians, indicating the growth of the crypto space in the country.

The economy of El Salvador is also depended on the money that is sent back to the residents there from the diaspora working in foreign countries. As per Bukele, the country collected over $3 million (roughly Rs. 30 crores) in remittances in one day i.e. on October 16. The update is noteworthy because ever since El Salvador legalised Bitcoin as legal tender in September, its diaspora working abroad is being able to wire back money to the country via Bitcoin — without the involvement of any intermediary or service fee. The process has been adding value to El Salvador's overall economy.

2 new Chivo Facts:

1. People are inserting way more USD (to buy #BTC) than what they are withdrawing from the Chivo ATMs (any media outlet can independently confirm this by visiting the ATMs).

2. Today, we received 24,076 remittances, adding up to $3,069,761.05 (in one day).
— Nayib Bukele ???????? (@nayibbukele) October 16, 2021

The public reaction to Bukele's tweet seemed positive, with people cheering for Bitcoin adoption.

#Bitcoin adoption is developing in El Salvador
Great job @nayibbukele ????#MoneyInTheRightDirection #cryptoadoption @CorionPlatform https://t.co/tCxenrkHib
— Miklos Denkler (@MiklosDenkler) October 17, 2021

History in the making! Way to go #btc literally changing the lives of millions of people without any Central Authority needed whatsoever. https://t.co/g2zCJ65ejr
— NEO (@JoshuaNBoles) October 17, 2021

I thought they told us #Bitcoin was just for shady internet coders and money laundering?

Looks like it's freedom money and an open source monetary network with significant humanitarian benefits afterall. https://t.co/G54VCjdfct
— just in bitcoin (@justin_bitcoin) October 16, 2021

A parliamentarian in Tonga, a Polynesian kingdom of the South Pacific, has also been urging the authorities there to follow El Salvador in legalising Bitcoin to get rid of the high service fee charged by Western Union money transfer when its diaspora abroad tries to send money back to their relatives in Tonga.

El Salvador became the first nation in the world to legalise Bitcoin as a legal form of payment alongside the US dollar. Late in September, the country bought 700 Bitcoins, worth roughly $31 million (roughly Rs. 233 crores). Presently, El Salvador is reaping profits from Bitcoin.

In August, the El Salvadoran Congress approved a $150 million (roughly Rs. 1,128 crores) funding to facilitate conversions from Bitcoin to US dollars. In September, Bitcoin lost nearly 10 percent of its value but later recovered for the losses with a surged of over 30 percent.

The country now has a “surplus” of $4 million (roughly Rs. 30 crores) – which is being used to build a pet hospital.

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Further reading: El Salvador, Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, Remittances, Tonga, Dollar, Chivo

Radhika Parashar

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Radhika Parashar is a senior correspondent for Gadgets 360. She has been reporting on tech and telecom for the last three years now and will be focussing on writing about all things crypto. Besides this, she is a major sitcom nerd and often replies in Chandler Bing and Michael Scott references. For tips or queries you could reach out to her at RadhikaP@ndtv.com. More