A week after becoming the first country to use bitcoin as legal tender in a bid to revive its stagnant economy, El Salvador has half a million Chivo wallet users and 200 ATMs installed across the country.
50 ATMs have also been installed in the US cities of San Francisco, Doral, Atlanta, Chicago, Dallas, El Paso, Houston, Laredo and McAllen to cater to Salvadorans in the US sending money home to family members.
Through the use of bitcoin, the government is hoping to improve the population’s banking penetration and capture the more than $400 million in remittance fees that Salvadorans send from abroad through financial institutions. These remittances constitute 22% of El Salvador’s GDP.
Tax exemption for foreigners
The Salvadoran government has announced that foreign investors will be exempt from taxes on Bitcoin profits.
If the use of Bitcoin as legal tender in El Salvador goes smoothly, it could pave the way for other Latin American countries. Panama’s congress is currently trying to pass a bill that would make cryptocurrency accepted payment methods in all sectors of its economy.
