El Salvador’s Bitcoin (BTC) reserve has limited impact on the larger population, and a loan agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) could further complicate the Bitcoin strategy, according to Quentin Ellenman, general manager of the first Bitcoin (NGO) of a non-governmental organization (NGO) focused on adoption of Bitcoin.
Ehrenmann told Reuters that repealing Bitcoin’s legal bidding laws under the IMF agreement created a vacuum in public BTC education or state-led adoption initiatives. In a translated statement, he told the news outlet:
“Since the government signed this agreement with the IMF, Bitcoin is no longer a fiat currency and has not seen any other efforts to educate people. The government is clearly continuing to accumulate Bitcoin, which is beneficial to the government.
The Central American country has also agreed not to purchase new BTC under the contract. This is details confirmed in a recent IMF report, contradicting the claims made by the Bitcoin office in El Salvador that the country accumulates BTC every day.
El Salvador’s parliament rolled back public sector involvement in Bitcoin in January, remaining compliant under the IMF loan agreement, sparking debate over whether the country’s Bitcoin experiment failed.
Related: El Salvador has not purchased Bitcoin since signing a loan agreement, the IMF says
Cointelegraph gets a scoop from Salvadorans
Cointelegraph visited El Salvador in 2023 to get a scoop on how small businesses and everyday Salvadorans are using Bitcoin.
Joe Hall used Bitcoin to pay for her hostel stay using Ibex Pay, a payment company that encourages BTC payments to merchants on the Bitcoin Lightning network.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6te6j20-xey
The Lightning network is used to send Bitcoin almost instantly, making it suitable for daily small purchases such as coffee and meals in restaurants.
“Faster than a credit card,” a hostel employee accepting Bitcoin Lightning payments told reporters.
Nevertheless, the lack of education for the widespread adoption of Bitcoin in El Salvador stated that it had to show hostel clerks how to accept payments on the lightning network.
Magazine: What is it really like to use Bitcoin in El Salvador?
