Many El Salvador citizens have detailed that the Bitcoin Law enforced by their President, Nayiv Bukele, hasn’t had any positive impact.
Despite being enforced less than a year ago, 71% of the 1270 Salvadorans interviewed based on the survey conducted by the Institute of Public Opinion of the Central American University “José Simeón Cañas” indicated the Bitcoin Law did not bring any positive benefit to them.
Although, just 12.8% of the Salvadorans said that the Bitcoin Law had brought few economic benefits to their families despite most other people speculating on the Internet. Also, only 6.1% indicated that the law had significantly benefited their lifestyle.
The Bitcoin Law
According to the survey, more than two-thirds of Salvadorans held their President on high due to their acclimated success in the office. They emphasized that the President hasn’t had any major setbacks during this third governmental year. However, 3.9% of his supporters surveyed see the Bitcoin Law and its investments as a major failure for the Government.
Although the dissatisfaction from most Salvadorans might be because of the recent and roughly two months-long slumps of the crypto market, the elongated dip happened months after the Government enforced the law to use public money to invest in Bitcoin. The disapproval from the majority was based on the country’s economic situation and the Government’s intentions to invest millions of dollars in crypto instead of investing in priorities to lift the country’s economic situation.
Despite the country’s economic situation, the Government continues to buy Bitcoin and going into more debt. In contrast, the digital asset continued to push into more negative value since November last year. The Government’s plan to continue to buy Bitcoin caused a lot of discontent among its citizens, who see cryptocurrencies as scams and as a means of money laundering.
El Salvador’s Plans to Increase Cryptocurrency Adoption have failed
20% of those surveyed said that their economic situation has improved because of the Government’s financial aid, taking into account the $30 given in Bitcoin as an incentive to those who installed the Chivo wallet on their cell phones.
As reported by Cryptopotato, another survey conducted in February by The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) revealed that only 20% of those who spent the $30 bonus continued to use the Chivo Wallet despite the incentives offered by the Government, such as the reduction in the payments for gasoline.
“While most citizens in El Salvador have a cell phone with Internet, less than 60% of them downloaded Chivo Wallet, and 20% continued to use the app after spending their $30 sign-up bonus. Further, 5% of citizens have paid taxes with bitcoin, and despite its legal tender status, only 20% of firms-mostly large ones-accept bitcoin.”
