El Salvador rolls out 200 Bitcoin ATMs in a bid to speed-up nationwide adoption

[Ryker1]

^[snip]
If you will be a resident in El Salvador, then you will experience living your dreams as El Salvador is a place for crypto enthusiasts. I think it all matters with the leadership of the head of a country which brings all the difference into its people's lives. And bitcoin adoption will make El Salvador a progressive place to live in.

Well, perhaps other countries were looking at bitcoin now and they studying how to adopt this. It is good if all countries do the same with El Salvador, they are open-minded towards cryptocurrency, that is how good to become a leadership and perhaps the president of that country knows much better about crypto. With that number of ATM machines, it will really great to rapidly spread the mass adoption of bitcoin and will surely everyone will purchase and hold it as they know that storing a value is much better than using it as a mode of payment. It is really indeed a good step by them, we should be thankful to the president of El Salvador.

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[stomachgrowls]

^[snip]
If you will be a resident in El Salvador, then you will experience living your dreams as El Salvador is a place for crypto enthusiasts. I think it all matters with the leadership of the head of a country which brings all the difference into its people's lives. And bitcoin adoption will make El Salvador a progressive place to live in.

Well, perhaps other countries were looking at bitcoin now and they studying how to adopt this. It is good if all countries do the same with El Salvador, they are open-minded towards cryptocurrency, that is how good to become a leadership and perhaps the president of that country knows much better about crypto. With that number of ATM machines, it will really great to rapidly spread the mass adoption of bitcoin and will surely everyone will purchase and hold it as they know that storing a value is much better than using it as a mode of payment. It is really indeed a good step by them, we should be thankful to the president of El Salvador.

El Salvador is really showing up on how dedicated they are towards bitcoin adoption and 200 Bitcoin ATMS deployment is such really a good act because this would really spread up the awareness even more on the entire country and also not all would really be having the same impressions on what El Salvador had done because not all countries and its government would really be having that optimism towards crypto specially Bitcoin.

We have seen lots of scenarios on where several countries does have different takings or reactions towards its existence and that is why global adoption is really just remaining as a dream but somehow
its really good to look at that there are still whom do really consider the opposite.

Hope that it would happen also into my countryland.

[sheenshane]

200 Bitcoin ATMs quite a lot, I think this isn't distributed yet and fully functional because when I checked the Coinatmradar, the country of El Salvador only has 4 Bitcoin ATMs.

It has a great impact on Bitcoin and the price, it's also has a benefit to the government of El Salvador, instead of banning crypto, prohibited exchange, and mining industry why not allowing people and encourage them to use crypto.  This state is a good example among other countries, we hope that every one will follow their steps.

For some reason, I wonder how they will implement tax, I guess not all will be illegible to pay tax for those who used non-custodial wallets, maybe on the custodial wallet which is can be regulated by them.

[GreatArkansas]

It's happening, the virus is spreading. El Salvador country is a role model in terms of Bitcoin, I believe neighboring countries or other parts of the world will start also to roll more Bitcoin ATMs.
This is one of the many ways to spread about Bitcoin, more ways to get Bitcoin will help Bitcoin grow, more users.

[SFR10]

and prepare 50 bank branches across the nation to allow residents to exchange crypto for fiat easily.
~Snipped~
What do you guys think about such a move by El Salvador?

The only thing that's bothering me from this positive news, is the fact that Salvadorans will be limited to "50 bank branches" only! It would've made sense if we were just talking about the BTMs, but since banks are involved as well, then there's no reason to limit it to a certain amount of branches ^{[either you accept it completely or not]}.

then I guess it's not as bad as we'd expect.

You have a point, but none of them would be able to get the "free $30 in BTCitcoin" unless they'd use the Chivo app for at least one time ^{[there has to be an ulterior motive behind the creation of that app]}.

[dkbit98]

All those Bitcoin ATM machines are using athenabitcoin.com backends for interacting with banks and with cryptocurrency system, but interesting thing is they are using centralized exchanges like Binance and Coinbase, and Chivo wallet is custodial with kyc verification.
CipherTrace and Elliptic are all included in Chivo Wallet Architecture and Athena bitcoin ATM's are operating powered by centralized AWS Amazon Web Services so don't expect decentralization if their server goes down.
Good thing for customers is that there will be no commission fees on transactions, but then I wonder how will all those companies get paid...

There is one interesting graph I found researching this topic:


https://twitter.com/eltapudosv/status/1429870227899174912

[ShowOff]

with the creation of 200 bitcoin ATM machines for adoption nationally, this shows how serious the country of El Salvador is to make bitcoin a legal transaction tool in their country, with national adoption we hope to be able to return to making bitcoin prices relatively stable as has happened in several the previous year, and we hope that this can also be applied in other countries in the world

Bitcoin will never be stable and its price will always fluctuate. El salvador looks serious about getting more bitcoin users in his country through the launch of ATMs, although the current numbers don't seem to be enough on a National scale but I believe it's still in its early stage. Large-scale adoption may have an impact on price stability due to its use as both a currency and a means of payment, but so far bitcoin has been heavily traded rather than used as a means of payment. This is the reason why prices are difficult to stabilize even though adoption has increased.

[verita1]

I admire the determination of President Bukele. Some people opposed to his government classify him as an autocratic leader.
In the nation of El Salvador, as in all countries, there are opposition groups, which is why we notice that Bukele speaks to both groups, those who support the Bitcoin law and those who do not.
I am looking forward to September 7th and to see how Salvadorans embrace bitcoin. My eyes are fixed to see how the Chivo wallet works for Salvadorans.
As they become successful with bitcoin, more nations will follow in their footsteps.

[BrianH]

Brilliant move by El Salvador.
Some citizens were likely already using Bitcoin for remittances. This is a way to track and tax them.
This builds out the infrastructure to make KYC commonplace so DeFi does not have a chance to take hold.
Phasing out the hyperinflating national currency in place of deflationary Bitcoin dramatically improves the strength of their economy and may encourage job migration, such as developers to their country. Citizens will reward the president politically, once they realize the benefits.
El Salvador's economy will gain as first worlders will still pour in money to drive up the price of Bitcoin, but will lose out on the infrastructure/jobs that crypto provides, because of their authoritarian governments.

[Natalim]

I admire the determination of President Bukele. Some people opposed to his government classify him as an autocratic leader.
In the nation of El Salvador, as in all countries, there are opposition groups, which is why we notice that Bukele speaks to both groups, those who support the Bitcoin law and those who do not.
I am looking forward to September 7th and to see how Salvadorans embrace bitcoin. My eyes are fixed to see how the Chivo wallet works for Salvadorans.
As they become successful with bitcoin, more nations will follow in their footsteps.

Exactly. This might be the first state to adopt bitcoin as a legal tender so whatever the result on it will create an impact to its neighboring countries. But i think the citizens are optimistic about it and once it works, hopefully other countries will follow the same path too. Leaders i think should always be responsible in leading his countrymen into adopting a new innovation that will create a big change in their lives.

However, since not all people are supporting this bitcoin adoption, because others might stick to its traditional system, so President Bukele has to cater to these different groups. But since bitcoin adoption could change the flow of country's economy, then it should be given more emphasis than using fiat which only causes high inflation and no transparency at all.

[TimeTeller]

I admire the determination of President Bukele. Some people opposed to his government classify him as an autocratic leader.
In the nation of El Salvador, as in all countries, there are opposition groups, which is why we notice that Bukele speaks to both groups, those who support the Bitcoin law and those who do not.
I am looking forward to September 7th and to see how Salvadorans embrace bitcoin. My eyes are fixed to see how the Chivo wallet works for Salvadorans.
As they become successful with bitcoin, more nations will follow in their footsteps.

Exactly. This might be the first state to adopt bitcoin as a legal tender so whatever the result on it will create an impact to its neighboring countries. But i think the citizens are optimistic about it and once it works, hopefully other countries will follow the same path too. Leaders i think should always be responsible in leading his countrymen into adopting a new innovation that will create a big change in their lives.

However, since not all people are supporting this bitcoin adoption, because others might stick to its traditional system, so President Bukele has to cater to these different groups. But since bitcoin adoption could change the flow of country's economy, then it should be given more emphasis than using fiat which only causes high inflation and no transparency at all.

If neighboring countries will see positive impact on their economy, they may follow the path of El Salvador.
If the crypto services are readily available, some people will try out of curiosity.
And when they found out about its advantages, then, they may turn to crypto user and endorse it to their family, colleagues and friends.
People are hesitant to try new technology especially if they have no knowledge about it.
But if it is already in front of them, this may encourage them to try and see what's in store for them.

[awik p]

with the creation of 200 bitcoin ATM machines for adoption nationally, this shows how serious the country of El Salvador is to make bitcoin a legal transaction tool in their country, with national adoption we hope to be able to return to making bitcoin prices relatively stable as has happened in several the previous year, and we hope that this can also be applied in other countries in the world

Bitcoin will never be stable and its price will always fluctuate. El salvador looks serious about getting more bitcoin users in his country through the launch of ATMs, although the current numbers don't seem to be enough on a National scale but I believe it's still in its early stage. Large-scale adoption may have an impact on price stability due to its use as both a currency and a means of payment, but so far bitcoin has been heavily traded rather than used as a means of payment. This is the reason why prices are difficult to stabilize even though adoption has increased.

the more bitcoin adoption and spread throughout the country, the fluctuations will be more stable, but I think bitcoin will still fluctuate, we can see the volatility of gold which is recognized by the whole world. but if later bitcoin can be used as a means of payment maybe it will be a different story

[Darker45]

A state-backed crypto wallet is certainly undesirable but without any policy that compels Salvadoran people to only use such wallet, I guess it is not that bad at all. Regardless, here's a state who is pushing forward something which is indeed for the welfare of its people. Bitcoin is no government-issued currency. Neither is it under the control of any of its agencies and branches. Despite all of this, however, the government is still making sure its people could make use of all its features.

I could say this is a victory of El Salvador and its people!

[terciduk123]

What do you guys think about such a move by El Salvador?

Frankly speaking, this is such kind of news where we should feel excited about. We always wanted to see granular level adoption of bitcoin. Didn't we?

I mean, it's much much better than a corporate investing billions of dollars in bitcoin. It is much much better for bitcoin to be circulated within a proper economy through masses instead of sitting idle in corporate coffers. Possibly El-Salvador will be written in history for their contribution towards the digital currency adoption.

That's right, Corporate that invest billions of dollars in bitcoin are good but one day they will surely take profits and sell them, But what Elsalvador did was legalize Bitcoin as a means of payment and give free $30 to its residents. Of course this will increase Bitcoin users and Bitcoin will continue to grow well.
Maybe in the future there will be many new Elsavador-based projects.

The President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, said:

"With this app (Chivo) they will be able to accept payments in bitcoin or dollars, open a small business and manage it from there, receive money from family or friends and send and receive remittances without paying anyone a penny in commission,"

*

In this case I still don't understand how they will do the transaction without transaction fee.

* https://forbescentroamerica.com/2021/08/25/bukele-acusa-a-oposicion-de-meter-miedo-con-el-bitcoin/

[noorman0]

-snip-
In this case I still don't understand how they will do the transaction without transaction fee.

That means Chivo wallet is a central wallet where there is no need for fees to make transactions between users (offchain). Regarding the free $30 offer, this applies only to chivo users. Of course this method will be more effective to lead people to use an official government-approved wallet (although I think there is an "asset control" motive).

There is no doubt, Elsavador will be the next country with the most bitcoin circulation in the world.

[buwaytress]

Damn. Whether or not this experiment does wonders, we're yet to find out, but it's still very interesting news. Also interesting they went for a new wallet, suppose there's a lot to be made with landing contracts for developing govt solutions;)

Next up to find out is what the KYC limits will be, if a significant minority of El Salvadorans are, supposedly, unbanked/undocumented.

Does it say who the machine manufacturer is? Suppose it doesn't matter if the backend is all the same.

[Kong Hey Pakboy]

~~~

Maybe first set of Bitcoin ATMs did not have means of verification, with what I know about the recent Bitcoin ATMs, it depends on the amount you are transacting. For example, some will only verify your mobile number if transacting below $2000 (this will depend from ATM to ATM), any amount above $2000 will then require ID card or any other identity verification.

But the amount of transaction fee on Bitcoin ATM is always appropriately 10%, this is too high in my opinion, will El Salvador make it reduced in their country, I mean the transaction fee?

That's alright for me, a little identification in some certain number is acceptable, long as there's no camera behind those ATMs like a regular ATM, what I'm mad about is the 10% fee, that's definitely too high and it's going to be bad for them because no one's going to use them if they allow a P2P there, to me that number is pretty offensive, you don't see that percentage on a normal ATM right?

[so98nn]

Most of us claiming that they are not surprised by this news. Thing is we should be surprised because there are many nations with numerous investors of crypto band who are wishing that when their nation will start developing crypto infra like this. In India, back in 2017-18 one bold man tried to install the Bitcoin ATM in a city center mall. Right after 24 hours it was ceased by the IRS officials as illegal financial booth and all the excitement in India was scrapped out.

..and here we go El Salvador, country with no fear, started installing their first 200 crypto based ATM's. I think I would applaud them because at least they have started somewhere and are in the full fledge adoption of the same.

Ask the peeps who wish to have such ATM's nearby, they tell how surprised are they with this news. 

[yazher]

It's happening, the virus is spreading. El Salvador country is a role model in terms of Bitcoin, I believe neighboring countries or other parts of the world will start also to roll more Bitcoin ATMs.
This is one of the many ways to spread about Bitcoin, more ways to get Bitcoin will help Bitcoin grow, more users.

This is just the beginning because the moment they announce what they gonna do to the entire world, I know they will take it to another level. This is the best time to implement such kind of innovation where the entire world is not sure about it. I think if bitcoins will finally be recognized as one of the payment systems in the entire world, El Salvador is one of the countries that will get huge benefits from it.

[meanwords]

-snip

This is actually a fantastic news. El Salvador is really taking the big leap here with those ATMS and I don't think it is going to stop. The fact that it's a country near America means that there's a high chance that it will have a domino effect on the nearby countries, especially if found out how useful cryptocurrencies is in a countries growing economy. Maybe El Salvador will be one of the key in countries accepting Bitcoin all over the world.