El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said 2.1 million Salvadorans are using the government’s Chivo cryptocurrency wallet, Cointelegraph reported. Earlier this month, the country decided to make bitcoin a legal tender.
The Chivo wallet lets individuals and businesses send and receive payments in bitcoin or dollars from anywhere, according to the report. It’s available on Android and Apple devices. The Mexican cryptocurrency exchange Bitso has taken the role of the main service provider for Chivo.
In addition, the government airdropped $30 worth in BTC to every account holder in the country, with a survey from São Paulo-based agency Sherlock Communications showing that over half of the country’s residents don’t have any familiarity with bitcoin, the report stated.
Chivo, Bukele tweeted, “now has more users than any bank in El Salvador,” per the report. The wallet has been in operation for three weeks.
Bukele said he thought soon the Chivo wallet would eclipse the banks in the country, combined, the report stated. His new update seems to show the positive way the new law, and wallet, are being received in the country.
The government under Bukele has been buying up bitcoin after several volatile price swings for the digital coin, according to the report.
However, there have also been numerous protests against Bukele and his new crypto-friendly policy, the report stated. On Sept. 15, the protests saw a crypto kiosk in the capital city burned down.
El Salvador’s sweeping policy was fraught with glitches and blocked accounts, which the government said would be fixed. And merchants tried to appeal the law allowing bitcoin payments, but the government turned that down.
Read more: El Salvador’s Bitcoin Legal Tender Debut Gets Off to Bumpy Start
Bitcoin, in some peoples’ view, is being used to veer away from the dominance of the dollar, stepping out of the normal financial system.
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