Bitcoin ownership is far more common in El Salvador than in the U.S.

[ZeroVinsonN]

A simple understanding of this does show that this survey might not necessarily be correct, the research being done by students would also imply that it was most likely done with limited resources and the information itself was gotten from people who were willing to share, it should be noted that not all bitcoin owners; previous and present will be willing to tell that they actually own bitcoin or did at one point in the lives of the other especially since there are other surveys that show that bitcoin adoption on the individual level isn't that high in El Salvador with over 90% of individuals not really using it to transact in the last years.

I personally disagree with your bias position about this and I would try to in simple words give my reasons. Your disagree with the survey findings is it due to the source, coming from university students or you believe that people would still wouldn't want to share about their bitcoin ownership even in a survey where their identity wouldn't be disclosed.

Surveys aren't filled by people who are unwilling to but by those who are willing, and we don't know the number of population who refused to share as well. Ok, what would you say about Nigeria surpassing the USA, as shown in the image. A country where the government isn't literally clear about its stands on bitcoin.

Maybe read the whole thing rather than picking just one part of it to disagree with, I did not say I disagreed with the survey, I said that it might not necessarily be correct, that statement goes both ways and at the end I also mentioned how other countries were also ranked over the US.
You need to understand that not believing that something is likely doesn't mean you are claiming it to be impossible.
You can't force a person to take part in a survey, so it's very possible that the survey covered majority of the country's population, it's also very likely that it didn't cover very much too.

[Z-tight]

It is almost certain that this survey would be inaccurate for a lot of reasons. I mean, if you owned $30 worth of BTC distributed by the government at one point in time, a lot of people would claim BTC ownership due to that. However, i am not so sure how many percent of them ever bought BTC with their own money afterwards, or even ever spent BTC.

BTC was a legal tender in El Salvador, but adoption from their citizens was not as good as people think it was and i don't even think BTC ownership was or is so common over there.

[Alpha Marine]

On the other hand, being a Spaniard myself, and not appearing in the graphic, is a little depressing

What I've noticed is that citizens of countries with struggling economies tend to lean towards Bitcoin and Crypto more because they really need alternatives to their failing currencies and also something they can make money from. Depending on how exposed the country is, they try to find new ways to escape poverty and protect themselves against inflation, so even though the graph may not be accurate (which I belieive its not), it's not surprising that these countries use or hold Bitcoin this much.
The Euro is a relatively strong currency compared to the naira, so the people of Nigeria will definitely be more worried about their currency that Spanish people. Then, let's not even talk about the differences in their economies.

[yhiaali3]

Since Bitcoin is legal tender in El Salvador and has been officially recognized by the Salvadoran government, it is not surprising that Bitcoin ownership is more common in El Salvador than in the United States or any other country.

But I don't usually trust surveys related to cryptocurrencies because, as everyone knows, cryptocurrencies maintain privacy and there are many people who want to maintain their privacy, so they are likely to provide misleading information. Personally, I think the percentage of Bitcoin ownership in the United States should be very high after the openness that occurred during Trump's era.

[PrivacyG]

I believe a more accurate number would be if El Salvador respondents were asked whether they had any Bitcoin since 2022 or 2023.  Many clearly had some Bitcoin considering it was Legal Tender.  Out of curiosity, many people would download a Bitcoin Wallet and get some particularly for the experience.  But the more important number to me is the amount of people who had an interest an year or two after it became Legal Tender instead of 'All Time'.

[Hamza2424]

The people of El Salvador acquired Bitcoin through a centralized, government-controlled application; it wasn't outright ownership, and most sold it within a month. accurate results would be based on measuring monthly/annual Bitcoin usage rather than ownership or knowledge of Bitcoin. Furthermore, the United States' influence is far greater than El Salvador's.

A survey done by students should not be taken seriously, haha, bro I am a student too, I know how I try to complete my work, and assignments and reports while doing my job haha. But I am not saying the students' efforts are a waste. They might have worked honestly and covered the stats accurately. It does not matter. But what matters is why we are comparing El Salvador with USA.

Even if the numbers are high it does not matter the thing that matters is the money. A person from the USA is investing more money in bitcoin than anyone from El Salvador if not alone, then if combined, then the USA will win. So this is not a fair comparison, plus it shouldn't matter in the first place.

[taufik123]

I believe a more accurate number would be if El Salvador respondents were asked whether they had any Bitcoin since 2022 or 2023.  Many clearly had some Bitcoin considering it was Legal Tender.  Out of curiosity, many people would download a Bitcoin Wallet and get some particularly for the experience.  But the more important number to me is the amount of people who had an interest an year or two after it became Legal Tender instead of 'All Time'.

The respondents' numbers may only be submitted at the beginning of the survey or indeed a random survey conducted.
At the beginning, it seemed that many people were quite excited to use Bitcoin, but there were also quite a lot of pros and cons of using Bitcoin.
Not all people in El Salvador use Bitcoin, they also even do demonstrations when Bitcoin becomes a legal means of payment.
If you want to be as accurate as you say, ask respondents directly if they still use or own Bitcoin now and it might be easier to survey on social media.

Now that many are aware of Bitcoin's potential and technological developments are accelerating, digital assets such as Bitcoin will be in great demand.
But the market is not doing well now and has indeed experienced a significant decline.

[ZAINmalik75]

This makes sense, because in El Salvador they motivated people to accept and use Bitcoin, and they also gave some bonus in the form of Bitcoin in the start, but there was no such program in the US. If we compare the stats with the total population, then the population in the US is more than El Salvador, so it is possible that 72% of the total population is using or invested in Bitcoin.

There are around 7 million people in El Salvador. It can't be possible that they took a survey from every single one, and like you said, some don't want to share their secret that they have invested in Bitcoin or not. But even if we observe the stats from this point of view, the percentage should be higher than 72%, because if there are those who hesitate to accept that they own Bitcoin, then the actual number must be higher than the current one.

[X-ray]

They recognizes it as legal tender, it does affect a lot on how bitcoin perceived by the people, I suppose holding bitcoin in there is the same as holding cash since every shop accept bitcoin because the government is going as far as enforcing it as legal tender.

Though after IMF telling them to walk back the decision for a good $1.4 billion loan, it's not enforced anymore.

[MusaMohamed]

They recognizes it as legal tender, it does affect a lot on how bitcoin perceived by the people, I suppose holding bitcoin in there is the same as holding cash since every shop accept bitcoin because the government is going as far as enforcing it as legal tender.

You can hold bitcoins in non custodial wallets similarly anywhere because with such wallets, you have wallet mnemonic seeds, private keys, and you have your own bank. Be your own bank means you are fully responsible on how you hold your bitcoin, how you secure your wallet, backups and keep your bitcoins safely.

No government, no bank can secure your bitcoins for you if you hold it in your non custodial wallets, and surely they can not freeze your coins in your non custodial wallets.

In El Salvador, years ago even with Bitcoin legal tender, people are free to hold their bitcoins in non custodial wallets if they want. It's only through airdrop distributions to citizens there, El Salvador government did it through Chivo wallet, and if people there wanted to be full self custody, they must move their coins to other wallets.
https://walletscrutiny.com/?platform=allPlatforms&page=0&query-string=chivo

[peter0425]

Though after IMF telling them to walk back the decision for a good $1.4 billion loan, it's not enforced anymore.

Other countries are also catching up as well. They are starting to invest in bitcoin putting it on their treasuries and encouraging private companies to invest as well. The order of things might change very soon

[Fivestar4everMVP]

But of course bitcoin being a legal tender in El Salvador will also play a major role on how bitcoin is treated in the country, I mean if bitcoin was a legal tender in my country then citizen will definitely make use of it more than they currently are.
So what's your take on this, is El Salvador really that much higher in bitcoin ownership by citizen than the US? Especially with all the other countries that are ranked to be higher then the US in this particular survey.

You already said it yourself that you don't believe this survey to be correct especially since it's conducted by students who might surely have conducted the survey with limited resources..
I believe exactly same too, because one thing I believe is that for a survey this to be anything close to accurate, the team conducting the survey have to actually travel and spend at least 6 months in each of the countries participating in the survey.

El Salvador I know is a way smaller country than the US is, and I don't also think that citizens of El Salvador are richer than the citizens of the US, in as much as bitcoin is a legal tender in El Salvador, I want to believe that bitcoin is not more popular in El Salvador than it is in the US, so there is the possibility that there might be more bitcoin users in US than in El Salvador..

But on the other hand, I am actually wondering what benefit does research as this bring to bitcoin really?
Because I don't think it contributes anything to its growth and adoption, so 🤷

[Catenaccio]

El Salvador I know is a way smaller country than the US is, and I don't also think that citizens of El Salvador are richer than the citizens of the US, in as much as bitcoin is a legal tender in El Salvador, I want to believe that bitcoin is not more popular in El Salvador than it is in the US, so there is the possibility that there might be more bitcoin users in US than in El Salvador..

El Salvador is a smaller nation than the USA from population to economy so policy changes or adoption changes in the USA would have more contributions to Bitcoin adoption globally than things happen in El Salvador.

The survey can have problems with its methodology so that its survey result might not represent the El Salvador population accurately. Result from the survey can be used as a reference but nothing more important than that. In addition, with bigger population, even with smaller percent of population owned Bitcoin in the USA, there are still more people do that in the USA than in El Salvador with higher percent of population owned Bitcoin.

Overall the survey results don't contribute anything to Bitcoin adoption, just a news to hype the market.

[Emitdama]

This makes sense, because in El Salvador they motivated people to accept and use Bitcoin, and they also gave some bonus in the form of Bitcoin in the start, but there was no such program in the US. If we compare the stats with the total population, then the population in the US is more than El Salvador, so it is possible that 72% of the total population is using or invested in Bitcoin.

There are around 7 million people in El Salvador. It can't be possible that they took a survey from every single one, and like you said, some don't want to share their secret that they have invested in Bitcoin or not. But even if we observe the stats from this point of view, the percentage should be higher than 72%, because if there are those who hesitate to accept that they own Bitcoin, then the actual number must be higher than the current one.

Not only they hyped it up a lot, but they literally made it a legal tender. Meaning that as a legal tender, everyone had a right to use that if they wanted to and you had to provide a service to accept it, otherwise you would be not providing a chance to pay with a legal tender. Many places are breaking this rule in a lot of places, like for example cash is not allowed in some places nowadays, which is illegal, and those places have to pay a fine for it, most don't.

So I am sure in El Salvador there were probably people who did not provided a chance to accept bitcoin, but many did. So, it is normal that they would have a lot higher percentage of ownership than any other place due to being a legal tender option.

[Cookdata]

El Salvador is a smaller nation than the USA from population to economy so policy changes or adoption changes in the USA would have more contributions to Bitcoin adoption globally than things happen in El Salvador.

The survey can have problems with its methodology so that its survey result might not represent the El Salvador population accurately. Result from the survey can be used as a reference but nothing more important than that. In addition, with bigger population, even with smaller percent of population owned Bitcoin in the USA, there are still more people do that in the USA than in El Salvador with higher percent of population owned Bitcoin.

Overall the survey results don't contribute anything to Bitcoin adoption, just a news to hype the market.

I have stopped given attention to US and their adoption, maybe another thing will change my mind towards them as adopters. When you look deeply into what has been going on in US and the Trump administration, it's only family that has been doing this Bitcoin thing, the sons and the family, the country input is in the shadow and that's what we want. You want Bitcoin, let's people have a taste of it and not your family that has been milking everyone with their useless quote "Bitcoin is going to $1M" 

Adoption starts with people and that's why El Salvador earn my respect. Same Salvador went to IMF EFF but was rejected because of Bitcoin exposure. Will they do that if it was US? They dare not because who is IMF without US, in not sure if they will need any money from them. If they want adoption to strive, make Bitcoin a legal tender but I forgot there wasn't any plan but to push his election and get into white house with his woman.

[Strongkored]

Many factors must be considered from the survey to determine whether it is true or otherwise.
Because the survey only speaks about ownership, it could be that the people of El Salvador, like most others, view Bitcoin merely as an investment asset rather than a currency for daily use.

[Davidvictorson]

So what's your take on this, is El Salvador really that much higher in bitcoin ownership by citizen than the US? Especially with all the other countries that are ranked to be higher then the US in this particular survey.

What year was the survey carried out.

Would we question the result if it were the other way around? In my estimation, it is highly likely that there are more bitcoin owners and users in El Salvador than in the US. And there are so many reasons for it which I do not need to reiterate.

I want to see this survey conducted again, while I believe it would remain I still want to see the dynamics of it in terms of key demographics, what bitcoin is spent on more, gender differences as well as the social economic status of those who own it.

[uchegod-21]

Op, you may be right that the information above isn’t entirely accurate, since the data used for the survey might not have been sufficient to support such a conclusion. However, I won’t argue too much about the results. In a country like El Salvador, where citizens were given the freedom to adopt Bitcoin earlier, it’s only natural to expect them to rank among the top countries with the highest number of Bitcoin holders.

[Alphakilo]

But of course bitcoin being a legal tender in El Salvador will also play a major role on how bitcoin is treated in the country, I mean if bitcoin was a legal tender in my country then citizen will definitely make use of it more than they currently are.
So what's your take on this, is El Salvador really that much higher in bitcoin ownership by citizen than the US? Especially with all the other countries that are ranked to be higher then the US in this particular survey.

Seeing Bitcoin not taken the top spot in this chart, I will assume to some extent that the results is not actually correct but yet again, El Salvador will have a place in the top position. Also, United State always taken the top spot is not as a result of other countries like Nigeria in this case not having quite a large number of people that are into bitcoin. US being a hub for Bitcoin and the much interest the government there has shown on it will definitely boost their rank in charts like this.

This being said, as a result of the privacy oriented asset that Bitcoin is and people not willing to tell if they own some or not, and again; as a result that the research was carried out by students who in most cases have a limited resources to carry out an effective research, this may not be 100% accurate. But in all, there is definitely some interesting facts here to look up to.

The statistics is quite reasonable and shows how the current context of Bitcoin is viewed in many of the countries of the world today.
It's no secret how El Salvador is ranked number one, because I believe they were the first to fully adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender and other countries had to wait and watch for the repercussion of their president making such a decision.
The U.S am afraid, is just trying to be a force in everything that's why them having a strategic reserve bank on Bitcoin and cryptocurrency's behalf, among other FED policies are just creating an atmosphere of difficulty for users who originally thought Bitcoin to be absolutely decentralized and beyond government control and influence.
Lugano is also another state or should I say region in Switzerland that adopted crypto currency for use and am sure there would be wider adoption come 2027 after all policies have gained ground and effects has being weighed fully.

Most of the countries also present in the data presentation have more holders and mining farms like UAE, as compared to those who use it as currency and that's a difference in the use case that makes El Salvador stand out among the rest.

[Agbamoni]

What do you expect from a country that made Bitcoin a legal tender a couple of years ago? By analysis it is said to be true, that most citizens in El Salvador holds more Bitcoin than in US. How true is this, we do not know, because these information are shared on the internet, I wish it was possible to live among the citizens it will be easier to confirm if it is true or not. These days, it is diffficult for me to believe any information and analysis i see online because the media are controlled by the goverment.