BITCOIN BRINGS HOPES, DOUBTS FOR SALVADORANS SENDING MONEY
El Salvador is betting that this week’s pioneering adoption of Bitcoin will spur its economy, especially one of its most crucial sources of revenue: money sent home by Salvadorans in the United States.
A fervent proponent of the cryptocurrency, President Nayib Bukele has asked the more than 2 million Salvadorans who live overseas to send their remittances in Bitcoin, arguing it will be cheaper than transferring dollars. He also says it will stimulate foreign investment.
“It will be a great benefit for our people,” he has written in Twitter.
But both those at home and abroad are uncertain if the plan, which takes effect Tuesday, will work as intended. Some say the
