El Salvador is stepping up efforts to promote the use of bitcoin. While part of the population is protesting against the adoption of BTC as legal tender, the country's government is actively exploring the potential merits of the world's first cryptocurrency.
The authorities have gone a step further by installing 50 cryptomats to transfer money to El Salvador without commissions. Approximately 70% of the country's population regularly uses cross-border transfers and payments. Last year, Salvadorans sent home almost $6 billion from abroad. Earlier, such major payment systems as Western Union and MoneyGram earned about $400 million a year in commissions. Overall, El Salvador loses 1.5% of GDP due to remittance fees. The ability to use bitcoin and cryptocurrency ATMs is projected to solve this problem.
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele is confident that adopting the digital currency as legal tender would make it easier for citizens of the country living abroad to send money back home. Bitcoin could save the country from $170 million to $400 million a year in transaction fees on funds sent from abroad. “We must break the paradigms of the past," President Bukele tweeted. "El Salvador has the right to advance towards the first world," he added.
Bitcoin is now an official currency of El Salvador alongside the US dollar. The corresponding law was passed by Congress in early June. According to Bukele, this measure "will generate jobs and help provide financial inclusion to thousands outside the formal economy."
