El Salvador Government Sets Up 200 Bitcoin ATMs as Adoption Continues
Ahead of El Salvador's adoption of Bitcoin as a legal tender, which will occur in a few days, the government has begun the installation of Bitcoin ATMs all over the nation.
It was announced that 200 ATMs and over 50 in-person stalls would be set up and launched on September 7, when El Salvador’s BTC law will come into effect. El Salvador's President, Nayib Bukele, who is an avid crypto supporter, shared the news via Twitter.
The ATMs will help accelerate the adoption of the country’s new legal tender by allowing citizens to convert the cryptocurrency into USD and make withdrawals.
State-Backed Digital Wallet Introduced
The ATMs are to work alongside a government-developed crypto app called Chivo, which will function as a digital wallet and will be interoperable with any existing crypto wallet.
Bukele took care to explain the wallet features, with Salvadorans set to receive a $30 reward in Bitcoin once they sign up.
The app will process all transactions made with the ATMs and will be completely free, requiring no payments or commissions. According to Bukele, the recent move will save El Salvador $400 million a year in remittance fees, as Salvadorans in other countries would be able to make instant transfers to relatives within El Salvador.
The transfers could be made in either Bitcoin or dollars. The government will also be initiating a $150 million fund to support BTC to USD conversions. Bukele announced that 50 financial branches would be opened all over the country so citizens could withdraw or deposit money.
Salvadorans Assured of Choice
The President also added that the use of Bitcoin as a payment method would not be forced upon the citizens, and they would not have to use Bitcoin or related apps should they decide not to.
Alejandro Zelaya, El Savador’s Minister of Finance, echoed the same sentiments in a local interview.
Zelaya insisted that the use of BTC and digital wallets were completely optional in the nation and there was no punishment for businesses that chose not to accept the cryptocurrency.
Though these assurances have provided much-needed relief to concerned El Salvadorans, Bukele's Bitcoin bill did stipulate that organizations and governments must adopt BTC as a payment method for goods, services, fines, and taxes.
A survey conducted in June by an El Salvadoran university showed that a large number of the country's citizens do not understand crypto and are still wary of its growing presence in their nation.
However, unmystified with making history as the first Latin American country to make BTC a legal tender, El Salvador continues to seek out different avenues to increase BTC adoption.
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