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

[Bitcoin_Arena]

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele confirmed in a tweet that the nation will be roll out about 200 ATMs and prepare 50 bank branches across the nation to allow residents to exchange crypto for fiat easily.


Image credit

Some few facts

• With El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption bill coming into effect on Sept. 7, Bukele said those not interested in using BTC would be able to exchange the BTC they receive for cash at any of those locations. He also reiterated that the U.S. dollar will continue to be in circulation.
  
• El Salvador has also created Chivo, its own state-backed crypto wallet that would be compatible with the new ATMs and would be interoperable with any existing crypto wallet
• “What if someone doesn’t want to use Bitcoin?” Bukele said. “Don’t download [Chivo] and continue living your normal life. Nobody is going to take your dollars […] Someone can always queue up at Western Union and pay a commission.”

Bukele, also said that adopting Bitcoin will save Salvadorans $400 million per year in fees for receiving remittances from abroad


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

Personally, I have mixed emotions when it comes to the part of a state-backed crypto wallet but a side from that, I think in general, it's a good thing for the citizens and Bitcoin adoption alike. This is a little a break from the news of other different nations banning trading and mining of cryptocurrencies and discouraging citizens from using them.


1. https://www.ndtv.com/business/el-salvador-to-install-200-bitcoin-atms-as-part-of-the-governments-plan-to-make-the-token-legal-tender-2517158
2. https://forkast.news/headlines/el-salvador-bitcoin-atms-nationwide/

[Mbitr]

Great news  Just a small concern with the the ‘State backed crypto wallet’ - but I suppose they have to do this to increase mass adoption.
Interestingly ‘ chivo’ is slang for ‘cool’ .
Good luck to El Salvador BTC

[Kong Hey Pakboy]

Is this Bitcoin ATMs regulated or monitored because I know that most Bitcoin ATMs don't have any way to track the people that use them so is it going to be different? This is a good move for El Salvador, it can help boost the adoption of bitcoin when they finally launch out all of the ATMs.

[Charles-Tim]

Is this Bitcoin ATMs regulated or monitored because I know that most Bitcoin ATMs don't have any way to track the people that use them so is it going to be different?

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?

[mk4]

Great news   Just a small concern with the the ‘State backed crypto wallet’ - but I suppose they have to do this to increase mass adoption.
Interestingly ‘ chivo’ is slang for ‘cool’ .
Good luck to El Salvador BTC

I was also really skeptical initially. But since the usage of the "official wallet" is optional as far as I know(people are free to use other Lightning wallets), then I guess it's not as bad as we'd expect.

[hd49728]

Bukele, also said that adopting Bitcoin will save Salvadorans $400 million per year in fees for receiving remittances from abroad

It shows the power of Bitcoin network and Bitcoin transactions. They are built for everyone, and they provide borderless transactions with cheap transaction fees when network is not congested.

Bitcoin will become legal tender in that nation, just a few days left. Let's count it down.

Bitcoin is first then I expect Lightning network adoption in El Salvador. Bitcoin ATM has Lightning Network as far as I know.

[777Jolami]

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

Well this is good news for bitcoin, the market as a whole and El Salvado in particular, this is their good attempt to close the gap to the hard exposure that comes from the educational preparation of  How to use bitcoin in a better, more friendly way.  200 ATMs is an impressive start for a country as small as El Salvado, but their momentum is immense. In my opinion, it is reasonable to start promoting equipment to build infrastructure to serve the use / exchange / payment bitcoin for people.
I am glad to hear the positive, effective actions and signals from them!

[Assface16678]

Good for them, another way to increase support and sentiment of the public towards their adoption of bitcoin. Hopefully this can soften up the people and have them feel that bitcoin is their friend. Hopefully this doesn't cause rallies or protest in El Salvador.

[DdmrDdmr]

I’m slightly confused. Not long ago, Athena claimed to be working towards installing 1.500 bitcoin ATMs in El Salvador (see https://www.reuters.com/technology/athena-says-will-install-1500-cryptocurrency-atms-el-salvador-2021-06-25/), and the headlines today talks about 200 (which I believe are supplied by Athena). Perhaps it’s the initial roll-out, which will be expanded over time to those 1.500 bitcoin ATMs. We’ll see.

This article (in Spanish), claiming to be acting as a sort of "ChivoLeaks", displays an alleged image of the Chivo Wallet’s architecture:

The article is not too sure on the veracity of the above, being the source attributed to El Tapudo (https://twitter.com/eltapudosv/status/1429870227899174912), who is apparently a comedian that opposed the Bitcoin Law there. No detail explanation either, but note that it references the Lightning Network. As mentioned, we need to take this with a grain of salt.

Is this Bitcoin ATMs regulated or monitored because I know that most Bitcoin ATMs don't have any way to track the people that use them so is it going to be different? <…>

Here I’m referencing a document (in Spanish) I found, with technical rules to facilitate the implementation of the Bitcoin Law:
https://www.bcr.gob.sv/regulaciones/upload/Normas_Tecnicas_para_Facilitar_la_Aplicacion_de_la_Ley_Bitcoin.pdf
The document was released a week ago, and if valid, it states on page 12, article 27 that (translated):

The ATM must be programmed to ask the user for his/her secret password (PIN), or use an alternative identification method, before initializing the session.

It does not explicitly mention Chivo (or else), and to add a bit more confusion, the article comes under a section called "ATM from bitcoin to dollars and vice-versa".

Leaving ATMs aside,  the article, which I’ve only skimmed through, does place a lot of focus on AML, GAFI recommendations and so forth. Page 21 article 51 for example talks about entities needing to retain and forward information on TX sender, receiver, amounts, etc. Perhaps it only applies to TXs over 1K $ (explicitly mentioned in article 50).
Here I’m confused (yet again) as to the scope. It references financial institutions, but I’d really like to properly understand whether this all applies to Chivo (which I suspect it does), and what will happen if someone wants to make a purchase in a store from their own non-Chivo wallet for quantities both below and above 1K.

All in all, the more I read, the more confused I get, so I either stop reading, or I need to read through the references 20 times to try grasp the proper content. I’m more lenient to the former, and I’ll await the roll-out to read through the experience/issues/limitations/controls then …

Edit: This came to mind:

[avikz]

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.

[BITCOIN4X]

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

I am not surprised by the news because I think it is mandatory if they have adopted bitcoin as a legal currency then steps to accelerate its adoption can be considered as soon as possible and one of them is the spread of bitcoin ATM in various regions. A thing that will have a positive impact on bitcoin which mean there will be a lot of increase in its demand. If there are only 200 ATM to be installed in various regions then I think that's still quite a bit, but it may be true as DdmrDdmr said that this is the first step for accelerated adoption.

[Shenzou]

I feel at the start when i heard about them making bitcoin  a legal trend i didn't except much other than a few shops accepting it,  but it seems that the president is actually doing some hard work to make it a part of the country's culture, and i feel like with the possibility to chose between fiat bitcoin and their own crypto makes it even better, besides installing these ATMs will make it even more accessible.

[Haunebu]

Nayib obviously must have certain ulterior motives behind these moves, but I honestly don't mind since these decisions are actually helping BTC and cryptocurrencies on the whole in various ways(Increasing adoption rates etc).

Haters might dismiss these developments by stating that these are simply small countries adopting crypto, but drops of water basically form an ocean.

[bitcoworld]

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

I think that something like this is necessary as a small pilot project and offers other countries the same alternative instead of watching the national currency hyperinflate. The variant to fully adopt Bitcoin will become more popular thats certain IMO

[Fortify]

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele confirmed in a tweet that the nation will be roll out about 200 ATMs and prepare 50 bank branches across the nation to allow residents to exchange crypto for fiat easily.

• With El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption bill coming into effect on Sept. 7, Bukele said those not interested in using BTC would be able to exchange the BTC they receive for cash at any of those locations. He also reiterated that the U.S. dollar will continue to be in circulation.
  
• El Salvador has also created Chivo, its own state-backed crypto wallet that would be compatible with the new ATMs and would be interoperable with any existing crypto wallet
• “What if someone doesn’t want to use Bitcoin?” Bukele said. “Don’t download [Chivo] and continue living your normal life. Nobody is going to take your dollars […] Someone can always queue up at Western Union and pay a commission.”

Bukele, also said that adopting Bitcoin will save Salvadorans $400 million per year in fees for receiving remittances from abroad


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

Personally, I have mixed emotions when it comes to the part of a state-backed crypto wallet but a side from that, I think in general, it's a good thing for the citizens and Bitcoin adoption alike. This is a little a break from the news of other different nations banning trading and mining of cryptocurrencies and discouraging citizens from using them.


1. https://www.ndtv.com/business/el-salvador-to-install-200-bitcoin-atms-as-part-of-the-governments-plan-to-make-the-token-legal-tender-2517158
2. https://forkast.news/headlines/el-salvador-bitcoin-atms-nationwide/

It is certainly a very curious experiment, but it could just as easily be some grand and possibly misguided attempt by a politician to gain votes. Instead of the government taking direct control of the remittances system and effectively pushing the cost down (which makes their supposed saving an illusion), they have decided to uproot a large part of the economy. If they really did want to be pioneers in the cryptocurrency space then it would have made sense to see beyond Bitcoin and look at building their own blockchain based currency which could give them increased control for the benefit of their system. Bitcoin became a speculative asset a while ago and this could actually hurt the average citizen later down the line.

[famososMuertos]

In recent days, he was seen with a comment on Twitter:

Who is this boomer?
^{Source: https://twitter.com/nayibbukele/status/1428802786054004748}

This is not just about bitcoin  of who wants to set up a bitcoin structure, personal or business project, where it is already complex, in fact there are several companies that are in charge of that business of only the ATms.

This leader has to deal with one of the countries with a high index of social and economic problems, with a serious internal political situation and some will say it is obvious he is the "president" of El Salvador but there the point, it is not only A bet on bitcoin is a bet where if it fails it will not matter what economic and social indices I leave in positive or negative after ceasing to be president, it is the hope of a change, not only on El Salvador but of the entire community of bitcoin in the world.

I think the stage is set, so  it is not possible not to get excited, so as  someone a few posts back showed himself with a image from Pascua island, I are a bit more modern and it reminded me of the scene from "I Robot" but not white robots, orange.


^{Source: https://twitter.com/BitcoinMagazine/status/1430115230978355234/photo/1}

In two weeks #bitcoin will become legal currency in El Salvador.

Fix the money, fix the World

^{RT:@nayibbukele
Source: https://twitter.com/BitcoinMagazine/status/1430115230978355234}

Let's go!

I think someone must have said "...my president also approved 2000 ATMs" oh, no,oh, no, no,no,no, i'm daydreaming.

[bL4nkcode]

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?

Any bitcoin er/supporter/user/miner/geek/buyer/seller has a dream to make this a reality, and I'm jealous to all people of El Salvador to make this dream into reality by their government. Whether it will be a problem for personal identity for some which bitcoiner are used to as it's designed for anonymous (pseudonymous actually) transaction, but that doesn't matter to me at all if this happen here in my place.

[wxa7115]

El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele confirmed in a tweet that the nation will be roll out about 200 ATMs and prepare 50 bank branches across the nation to allow residents to exchange crypto for fiat easily.


Image credit

Some few facts

• With El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption bill coming into effect on Sept. 7, Bukele said those not interested in using BTC would be able to exchange the BTC they receive for cash at any of those locations. He also reiterated that the U.S. dollar will continue to be in circulation.
  
• El Salvador has also created Chivo, its own state-backed crypto wallet that would be compatible with the new ATMs and would be interoperable with any existing crypto wallet
• “What if someone doesn’t want to use Bitcoin?” Bukele said. “Don’t download [Chivo] and continue living your normal life. Nobody is going to take your dollars […] Someone can always queue up at Western Union and pay a commission.”

Bukele, also said that adopting Bitcoin will save Salvadorans $400 million per year in fees for receiving remittances from abroad


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

Personally, I have mixed emotions when it comes to the part of a state-backed crypto wallet but a side from that, I think in general, it's a good thing for the citizens and Bitcoin adoption alike. This is a little a break from the news of other different nations banning trading and mining of cryptocurrencies and discouraging citizens from using them.


1. https://www.ndtv.com/business/el-salvador-to-install-200-bitcoin-atms-as-part-of-the-governments-plan-to-make-the-token-legal-tender-2517158
2. https://forkast.news/headlines/el-salvador-bitcoin-atms-nationwide/

If the wallet is open source then it should not be a problem, now if it is close source then this is more problematic but it is understandable that they are doing this in this way and it does not worry me at all, after all I think El Salvador is choosing the minimum negative intervention possible that they can and this is a good thing.

Also I am really impressed by what is happening there, not only El Salvador is letting you use bitcoin as any other currency they are actually supporting the adoption by this move, I do not think that I am exaggerating but a great deal of the fate of bitcoin will be decided there, if other countries see that bitcoin is being used and saves people money and it is good for their economy especially in the difficult times we are going through then that could be what is needed to see other countries pulling off the same move.

[uneng]

The good news is that bitcoin is being heavily promoted by El Salvador's government to its citizens. But all the rest is indifferent. I think many people here live in countries where there isn't any incentive or legal statement from the government about bitcoin and they are still able to deal with the crypto currency in the same way it's being promoted in El Salvador right now.

I think ATMs aren't needed since everyone has access to a smartphone and internet connection which fully replaces those machines' function (which are actually overcame nowadays already). Traditional banks accepting bitcoin is also indifferent, because we are stepping towards a new banking system that has already became a reality for many: crypto banks and crypto apps that fully replaces traditional banks' functions.

Governmental bitcoin marketing campaigns should be more oriented to the autonomy of the individuals when using the digital currency instead of promoting the dependence on ATMs and banking agencies.
Anyway their work isn't totally bad, because the propaganda still makes it worth. At least it looks like...

[Kasabus]

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?

Any bitcoin er/supporter/user/miner/geek/buyer/seller has a dream to make this a reality, and I'm jealous to all people of El Salvador to make this dream into reality by their government. Whether it will be a problem for personal identity for some which bitcoiner are used to as it's designed for anonymous (pseudonymous actually) transaction, but that doesn't matter to me at all if this happen here in my place.

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.

For me, this news is definitely the biggest achievement for bitcoin as it has reached its ultimate goal to be used as a good currency and has become a mainstream nowadays. Although this changes will set to take place place by Sept.7 but the preparation is definitely very impressive. And its expected by the way once digitalization will be adopted.