Effective September, El Salvadorans Still Skeptic Of Bitcoin Use

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele will adopt Bitcoin as a means of payment, September 2021. (photo: igtv)

JAKARTA - According to a newly released survey, three-quarters of Salvadorans are skeptical of President Nayib Bukele's plans to adopt Bitcoin, in the country.

The survey, which interviewed 1,233 people across El Salvador between July 1 and 4, revealed that only 20% approved the plan to make Bitcoin legal tender.

The survey, which has a margin of error of 2.8%, was conducted by Disruptiva researchers, who are affiliated with Francisco Gavidia University. According to Reuters, it was found that about 54% of people viewed the Bitcoin adoption program as “totally incorrect”, while another 24% described it as “just a little bit right.”

Nearly half of the respondents, or 46%, admit that they know nothing about Bitcoin. Around 65% of them are not open to the idea of getting paid in digital currency.

The head of Disruptiva's institute of science, technology and innovation, Oscar Picardo, commented that "this is a risky bet on digital transformation."

The country's new Bitcoin law was passed on June 9, and will go into effect on September 7 making the world's leading crypto asset the official parallel currency in the Central American country. Late last month, the government launched a Bitcoin wallet called Chivo but stated that it was only one option available.

At the time, Bitcoin Bukele fans stated that the wallet would not incur fees or commissions for transfers and would not be deducted for converting BTC to USD.

At the end of June, he stated that every Salvadoran adult who downloaded the Chivo wallet app would be eligible to earn 30 US dollars worth of BTC.

President Bukele has touted the adoption of BTC as a way to facilitate remittance payments from citizens living abroad and reduce dependence on the US dollar, which has been the national currency since 2001.

Around 70% of the population in El Salvador do not have access to any bank accounts or financial services, but if this small survey were conducted, they have not seen the benefits of Bitcoin as a potential solution.