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Binance ‘s CEO Visits El Salvador. What Will He Meet President Bukele About?

It was about time that Binance ’s CEO, Changpeng Zhao, visited El Salvador. His company is the biggest cryptocurrency exchange in the world and El Salvador is the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender, why did this take so long? According to the Secretariat of Communications of the Presidency of the Republic of El Salvador, Binance’s CEO is visiting the country “along with other entrepreneurs, who are interested in knowing the investment possibilities.”

Hoy llegó a El Salvador el CEO y fundador de @BinanceES, Changpeng Zhao (@cz_binance), junto a otros empresarios, quienes están interesados en conocer las posibilidades de inversión, en el primer país del mundo que adoptó el #Bitcoin como moneda de curso legal. 🇸🇻 pic.twitter.com/XBYVwyZ8Dd

— Secretaría de Comunicaciones 🇸🇻 (@ComunicacionSV) March 23, 2022

What will Changpeng Zhao meet President Bukele about? Reuters caused quite the commotion when they tried to guess.

Related Reading | Binance’s CZ Wants Entrepreneurs To Create Coins. Does His Argument Make Sense?

What Did Reuters Say About Binance ’s CEO Visit To El Salvador?

As far as Reuters is concerned, CZ is visiting El Salvador to assist them with the issuance of the volcano bonds. They literally said:

“El Salvador is seeking support from cryptocurrency exchange Binance for its implementation of bitcoin as legal tender and the issuance of bitcoin bonds, the Central American country’s ambassador to the United States said on Wednesday.”

Is that what he’s here about, though? In the closest source we found, EFE quotes Mayorga telling “local media,” “We need businessmen his stature to support the issue of subscription to the volcano bonds.” In the ambassador’s Twitter account, Milena Mayorga welcomes Changpeng Zhao, CEO of Binance, “with the largest cryptocurrency wallet in the world.” Don’t ask.

Hemos dado la bienvenida a Changpeng Zhao @cz_binance, CEO de @binance, con la wallet de criptodivisas más grande del mundo.#LibertadEconómica #Bitcoin🇸🇻 pic.twitter.com/PBExfF2Lwc

— Milena Mayorga (@MilenaMayorga) March 23, 2022

According to Reuters, “Mayorga said Zhao’s visit was a vote of confidence in Bukele’s decision to adopt bitcoin as legal tender last September, as well as its plan to issue bitcoin-backed bonds.” According to her own tweets, they discussed, “strategic projects such as Bitcoin City, Surf City among others, was what we shared with the delegation of investors from Binance and companies.”

Proyectos estratégicos como #BitcoinCity, #SurfCity entre otros, fue lo que compartimos a la delegación de inversionistas de @binance y empresas que nos acompañan en esta 13 misión de negocios. pic.twitter.com/l6TOJNklAm

— Milena Mayorga (@MilenaMayorga) March 24, 2022

Who’s That Dark Figure Behind Binance ’s CEO?

The visit of one of the great businessmen of our time is most likely a positive for El Salvador. However, who’s that behind him? Could it be…? A pseudonymous Twitter user provides the necessary blown up pictures:

pic.twitter.com/1B38pZkyjW

— mutatrum (@mutatrum) March 23, 2022

That’s right, notorious lurker Brock Pierce. Of course, he is one of the “other entrepreneurs.” If you squint, you can also see him in one of Milena Mayorga’s pictures. Let’s remember what our sister site Bitcoinist reported the first time that the EOS creator lied his way into the Presidential Palace: 

“Something is rotten in the state of El Salvador. The first nation to declare BTC as legal tender received no other than the infamous Brock Pierce. An “Official Delegation of Bitcoin Ambassadors” reportedly met with President Bukele and other government officials. However, is there such thing as an “official delegation” of a decentralized protocol? No, there isn’t. And the whole Bitcoin community is up in arms about the situation.”

And just like that, Brock Pierce is back in San Salvador. Who would’ve thought?

BNB price chart on BinanceUS | Source: BNB/USD on TradingView.com
President Bukele Responds To The Rumors

In a since-deleted tweet, Bitcoin Magazine echoed Reuters’ take on the nature of Binance CEO’s visit to El Salvador. President Bukele asked them to “please don’t spread Reuters FUD. The Bitcoin Volcano Bonds will be issued with Bitfinex. The short delay in the issuance is only because we are prioritizing internal pension reform and we have to send that to congress before.”

I’m meeting with @cz_binance tomorrow to discuss OTHER issues, not the Volcano Bonds 🌋

Unless he wants to buy some, of course 😉#Bitcoin fixes FUD!

— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) March 23, 2022

To that, President Bukele added “I’m meeting with Changpeng Zhao tomorrow to discuss OTHER issues, not the Volcano Bonds. Unless he wants to buy some, of course.” And Binance CEO responded, “Looking forward to it. Plenty to discuss.” And, to be fair, Reuters also said that “Zhao praised El Salvador for taking on a pioneering role in the adoption of bitcoin and said Bukele’s presidency would be remembered in “heroic” terms for its bold bet on the future.”

Related Reading | Binance’s CZ Explains Why Banning Crypto Ads Won’t Affect Demand

Is Binance CEO’s visit to El Salvador priced in? Will the BTC price move because of it? What about BNB? Will Binance make moves in El Salvador? Does the market care about this historic visit? The next few days will answer all of those questions.

Featured Image: Changpeng Zhao in El Salvador, screenshot from this video | Charts by TradingView

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Tether & The Swiss City Of Lugano Promise “Europe’s BTC Capital.” Is It, Though?

What’s “Lugano’s Plan B”? The 9th biggest city in Switzerland plans to become Europe’s Bitcoin city. And Tether is there to help. How will the two entities accomplish that?  On March 3rd, Tether’s Paolo Ardoino and Michele Foletti, the Mayor of the city of Lugano, will unveil the plan at a live-streamed conference. 

#bitcoin and stablecoins are revolutionizing the financial sector. #tether and The City of Lugano🇨🇭 @luganomycity are teaming up to transform Lugano into the European #bitcoin capital.

Every city needs a plan. Join Lugano's Plan ₿ pic.twitter.com/wmhFVePcPo

— Tether (@Tether_to) February 21, 2022

Announcing the event, Tether summarized the situation as follows: “bitcoin and stablecoins are revolutionizing the financial sector. Tether and The City of Lugano are teaming up to transform Lugano into the European bitcoin capital.” For their part, the city’s official Twitter said, “The journey of the City of Lugano continues to discover the innovative sector #blockchain #Bitcoin #StableCoin.”

Continua il percorso della Città di #Lugano alla scoperta del settore innovativo #blockchain #Bitcoin #StableCoin👉Prossimo incontro il 3 marzo 2022, ore 17 al LAC, su iscrizione, oppure streaming @Tether_to @LuganoLivingLab https://t.co/g3NYTffvAT

— Lugano (@luganomycity) February 21, 2022

“We at Tether_to and the Administration of the City of Lugano have been tirelessly working together to prepare Lugano’s Plan ₿!,” completed Tether’s Paolo Ardoino. He was also bold enough to predict, “100% crypto will relocate to Lugano.”

We at @Tether_to and the Administration of the City of Lugano 🇨🇭 have been tirelessly working together to prepare Lugano's Plan ₿!

3rd March 2022 , I'll join @MicheleLugano (mayor) in a live conference, to disclose the plan!100% #crypto will relocate to Lugano 🤯#Bitcoin🇨🇭⚡ https://t.co/dely2sBeNM

— Paolo Ardoino (@paoloardoino) February 21, 2022

This all sounds wonderful, but, are they selling smoke? Even though bitcoin is prominently shown in all of the promotional material, a deeper look at the player’s words suggests the Lugano plan is to be a crypto city. Which is very different from a bitcoin city.

Related Reading | USDC Leaves Tether Behind In Terms Of Market Cap And Becomes First On Ethereum

How Much Bitcoin Will Lugano‘s Plan B Have?

In a recent Twitter exchange, Michele Foletti responded to the worst question possible. Someone asked the Mayor of the city of Lugano about the usual bitcoin FUD, that it’s slow and expensive like the Lightning Network doesn’t exist. That it’s bad for the environment like that narrative didn’t collapse a while back. How did Foletti respond?

“We focus on our 3Achain, more sustainable, public and open to all with limited costs http://3achain.org Blockchain for us is an opportunity for all those who look to the future with curiosity.”

Ma noi puntiamo sulla nostra 3Achain, più sostenibile, pubblica e aperta a tutti con costi limitati https://t.co/r6HS5Fs42a Blockchain per noi è un’opportunità per tutti coloro che guardano al futuro con curiosità https://t.co/EQHtidHgcW

— Michele Foletti (@MicheleLugano) February 21, 2022

He basically said “blockchain, not bitcoin.” Why name the program “Plan B” and promise a “European bitcoin capital,” then? And what’s all this about a Proof-of-Authority, completely centralized blockchain that describes itself as “the institutional blockchain platform promoted by the City of Lugano”? 

BTC price chart for 02/22/2022 on Bittrex | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
Institutional Blockchain Platform Promoted By The City Of Lugano

In an article about the recent Lugano NFT Week, an event that also points at crypto, the Europa Press agency quotes Michele Foletti saying: 

“We have always followed the development of new technologies very closely and we have identified blockchain as a topic of great interest for both multinational and local companies, citizens and businesses. We believe that a city must be at the service of citizens and with these initiatives we intend to place Lugano as a top-level player on the international scene, for all applications related to this technology.”

Does this man even know about bitcoin? Or is Lugano’s Plan B project using bitcoin in an affinity scam?

Snow in #lugano pic.twitter.com/G5bFEXuIQ5

— Paolo Ardoino (@paoloardoino) February 15, 2022

Let’s go to 3Achain’s website to find out if “the institutional blockchain platform promoted by the City of Lugano” respects bitcoin. This quote summarizes it all:

“It’s not about replacing public (so-called permissionless) blockchains, but about complementing them with a permissioned architecture that guarantees the parties involved not so much through the integrity of the algorithm that validates transactions through computing power, but through the validation of blocks by an independent authority.”

What do they mean by “so-called permissionless”? And, in other words, they’re announcing they solved the blockchain trilemma by getting rid of decentralization. By adding a third party.  Have you heard anything more anti-bitcoin?

Conclusion And Disappointment

Bitcoin is a Proof-Of-Work system. To understand it, you have to put in the work. El Salvador was the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender. It’s remarkable, almost a miracle, that President Bukele seems to understand the value proposition. Politicians don’t usually have the time for the necessary deep dive, so the world ends up disappointed. With disasters like MiamiCoin and the NY Mayor saying he’s pro bitcoin, but against bitcoin mining.

Related Reading | Cryptocurrency Firms In Switzerland To Offer Tokenized Products On Tezos

And here comes the Mayor of the city of Lugano and Tether to sing bitcoin’s praises. A “blockchain not bitcoin” guy and the organization behind the most controversial stablecoin. Even though it’s suspicious, let’s give them the benefit of the doubt and hear what they have to say. They might surprise us at the March 3rd conference. Maybe Lugano has a Plan B after all.

Featured Image: Snow In Lugano, By Paolo Ardoino. From this tweet. | Charts by TradingView

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El Salvador Prepares Regulatory Framework To Issue Controversial Bitcoin Bonds

Will the plan work? Soon, the Bitcoin Bonds will get the legal foundation they need. In a recent TV interview Alejandro Zelaya, El Salvador’s Finance Minister, said they will send the necessary bills to Congress. Soon. Reportedly, El Salvador will initially issue $1B worth of bonds, which will have a ten-year maturity and carry a 6.5% coupon. The bitcoin that backs them will be locked for five years.

The project, announced by President Bukele at Labitconf 2021, includes plans to build Bitcoin City. More on that later. In a scheme worthy of MicroStrategy, El Salvador will spend half of the money on the construction of Bitcoin City and will buy Bitcoin with the other half. Will the plan work? Well, they have to sell the bonds first. And for those to exist, a regulatory framework is required.

BTC price chart for 01/06/2021 on OkCoin | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
What Did El Salvador’s Finance Minister Say About The Bitcoin Bonds?

In an interview in the local TV show “Frente a Frente,” Zelaya announced the plan’s following steps. Reuters reports:

“El Salvador’s government will send to Congress about twenty bills covering financial markets and investment in securities to provide a legal foundation for issuing bitcoin bonds, Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya said on Tuesday.”

The Finance Minister didn’t specify exactly when they will introduce the bills. According to El Salvador In English, Zelaya said, “This type of legislation is what we are going to send to the Legislative Assembly to be able to give legal scaffolding and legal certainty to all those who buy the Bitcoin bond.”

"El Salvador podría convertirse en un centro regional donde los demás países puedan emitir deuda, contamos con grandes ventajas como tener una economía dolarizada y ser de punta de lanza en materia cripto", expresa el Ministro @AlejandroZelay9 en @Frentea_Frente. pic.twitter.com/uHbEzx4A3c

— Ministerio de Hacienda (@HaciendaSV) January 4, 2022

Through the Ministry of Finance’s Twitter, they quote Zelaya being even more daring. “El Salvador could become a regional center where other countries can issue debt, we have great advantages such as having a dollarized economy and being pioneers regarding crypto.”

It’s to cover and guarantee the #Bitcoin #VolcanoBonds, but also a full re-engineering of the economy and of the way a nation state does business.

Everybody searching for freedom: this is the place to come 🇸🇻https://t.co/zupEKC3usB

— Nayib Bukele 🇸🇻 (@nayibbukele) January 5, 2022

Adding fuel to the fire, President Bukele said via Twitter, “It’s to cover and guarantee the Bitcoin Volcano Bonds, but also a full re-engineering of the economy and of the way a nation state does business.” Not satisfied with that bomb, he added, “Everybody searching for freedom: this is the place to come.”

What About Bitcoin City? Is That A Go?

The Bitcoin Bonds will finance the construction of Bitcoin City, but, what’s that exactly? When President Bukele announced El Salvador’s plans, NewsBTC timely reported: 

“According to Bukele, Bitcoin City will be a full-fledged metropolis with residential and commercial areas. It would also have shopping centers, restaurants, a port, an airport, and railway services. There would be no income, property, capital gains, or payroll taxes. Residents would, however, be subject to just value-added tax (VAT). This tax will go towards paying for the municipality’s bonds, public infrastructure, and city maintenance.”

However, more recently, an investigative report by podcaster Anita Posch cast doubt upon the Bitcoin Bonds and the whole enterprise:

“Apparently, the seemingly advanced plan for Bitcoin City was a collage. “At least some of the Bitcoin City presentation slides were downloaded from the internet and there was no detailed plan behind the announcement.” Not only that, the structure behind the Bitcoin bonds that will finance the whole operation was also improvised. “The way the Bitcoin bonds will work was finally decided only a few minutes before Samson Mow took the stage.”

However, the plan is a go, and Blockstream’s Samson Mow is all-in on it. He recently tweeted the trailer for an upcoming documentary on El Salvador and its Bitcoin City plans. In the tweet, he threw an extremely optimistic, “Bitcoin is going to save the world and it starts here in El Salvador.”

Here's an amazing trailer from @anna_tutova for a new documentary on everything that's happening in El Salvador and #BitcoinCity. #Bitcoin is going to save the world and it starts here in El Salvador. 🇸🇻🌋🚀@nayibbukele @WilliamSorianoH @fulloa51 @maxkeiser pic.twitter.com/GcBUV8d9RN

— Samson Mow (@Excellion) December 29, 2021

Will the plan work? Is Bitcoin City a real project or a hastily put together mess? Do the Bitcoin Bonds offer a high enough return? Or are the Bitcoin Bonds too risky? Wouldn’t it be better for an investor to just buy bitcoin with that money? Or are we missing something? 

To answer all those questions and more, El Salvador needs a regulatory framework to issue the Bitcoin Bonds. And the roughly twenty bills that guarantee that are on their way to Congress.

Featured Image by Wilson Edilberto Santana Suarez on Unsplash | Charts by TradingView

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President Bukele Predicts BTC At $100k With Hope That More Countries Adopt It As Legal Tender

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele tweeted his forecasts for Bitcoin in the year on New Year’s Day 2022, making some rather bullish predictions.

Bukele Make Bullish Predictions On Bitcoin

Under Bukele’s presidency, El Salvador became the first government to embrace Bitcoin as legal tender last year as a countermeasure to the country’s rising inflation. Since the country’s legalization, the president has purchased 1,370 BTC for the country’s reserve and spent the unrealized gains in new infrastructure projects like a hospital and a school.

In 2022, President Bukele expects two more countries to join El Salvador in adopting Bitcoin as legal tender. He also predicted a bull run that would push the price of Bitcoin to a new all-time high of $100,000.

2022 predictions on #Bitcoin:

•Will reach $100k•2 more countries will adopt it as legal tender•Will become a major electoral issue in US elections this year•Bitcoin City will commence construction•Volcano bonds will be oversubscribed•Huge surprise at @TheBitcoinConf

— Nayib Bukele 🇸🇻 (@nayibbukele) January 2, 2022

Out of the six predictions he made, it appears that “two more countries will adopt it as legal tender” is rather cogent.w On September 7, 2021, El Salvador became the first government to make BTC legal tender, igniting a revolution that drew the attention of many other world leaders. This is an intriguing statement, especially after El Salvador’s ambassador to the United States, Milena Mayorga, stated that if Bitcoin adoption is successful in El Salvador, other countries “will follow.”

Another point worth noting is that he believes Bitcoin will become a big election topic in the United States this year. Parliamentary elections will be held in the country, and this might be one of the key issues of conversation in the United States. This might have a significant impact on the cryptocurrency industry and how businesses manage virtual currencies.

Many politicians have expressed support for the asset class, including 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Andrew Yang and Republican senators Cynthia Lummis and Warren Davidson. Other politicians in the United States have expressed their concerns about the issue. Senator Elizabeth Warren, for example, believes it favors just the wealthy. As more lawmakers get educated on the subject, it will be fascinating to see how Bitcoin regulation develops in the United States.

BTC/USD Fall further from christmas high. Source: TradingView

Related article | Zimbabwe Could Adopt Bitcoin As Legal Tender Following El Salvador

Bitcoin City To Begin

El Salvador is also planning to begin development on the so-called Bitcoin City in 2022. This might be critical for Bitcoin businesses and investors looking to develop across the continent. He predicts that volcano bonds will be oversubscribed and that there is going to be a huge surprise at the Bitcoin Conference this year.

Late last year, El Salvador announced plans to issue $1 billion in bonds to fund the purchase of more bitcoin as well as electricity and mining infrastructure. The project’s geothermal energy will be aided by the future city’s proximity to the volcano.

In a follow-up tweet, the President stated, “This tweet will age well.” Bukele’s predictions appear to be certain, but we’ll have to wait and see when and if they all come true this year.

Related article | El Salvador Calls Another Bitcoin Dip With 150 BTC Purchase

Featured image by BBC, Chart from TradingView.com

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IMF Report On El Salvador Is Positive… Except For Everything Bitcoin-Related

In a recent report, the IMF praises the way El Salvador handled the COVID-19 situation and announces that their economy grew 10% in 2021. The International Monetary Fund also recognizes El Salvador’s government efforts to reduce crime, “diversify the energy matrix, foster economic diversification, and enhance financial inclusion.” However, when it comes to Bitcoin, the IMF is completely against it. As they should. Because Bitcoin renders the IMF irrelevant.

But first, let’s learn what the report titled “El Salvador: Staff Concluding Statement of the 2021 Article IV Mission” is about:

“A Concluding Statement describes the preliminary findings of IMF staff at the end of an official staff visit (or ‘mission’), in most cases to a member country. Missions are undertaken as part of regular (usually annual) consultations under Article IV of the IMF’s Articles of Agreement.”

Anyway, let’s go to the IMF’s wacky opinions about Bitcoin.

BTC price chart for 11/23/2021 on Oanda | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
What Does The IMF Think About Bitcoin As Legal Tender?

After praising El Salvador’s efforts to foster “financial inclusion and raise growth,” the IMF attacks the very tool that the country’s government is using to accomplish that.

“Given Bitcoin’s high price volatility, its use as a legal tender entails significant risks to consumer protection, financial integrity, and financial stability. Its use also gives rise to fiscal contingent liabilities. Because of those risks, Bitcoin should not be used as a legal tender. Staff recommends narrowing the scope of the Bitcoin law and urges strengthening the regulation and supervision of the new payment ecosystem.”

Translation: The IMF can’t even think of one good reason for Bitcoin not to be legal tender. One Bitcoin is one Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency’s volatility is intrinsically related to the assets we compare it with. In this case, the US Dollar. It’s also important to remember that Bitcoin is legal tender in El Salvador ALONGSIDE the US Dollar. If people don’t want volatility, they can easily exchange all of their money into the other currency considered legal tender.

The IMF also conveniently ignores the fact that Bitcoin’s volatility can bring positive results for its users. And that their other option, the US Dollar, is going through an inflationary period like no other. Plus, when the US government prints more money, its citizens get certain benefits out of it. But El Salvador doesn’t. A Dollarized country that’s not in control of the money printer gets its purchasing power decreased by relentless inflation, but doesn’t get the airdrops and inorganic money artificially stimulating the economy.

Does The IMF Have Any Other Advice?

Of course, they do. First, they praise El Salvador’s efforts in financial inclusion. Then, the IMF recommends implementing the exact same measures that keep 70% of their population out of the financial system.

“Stronger regulation and oversight of the new payment ecosystem should be immediately implemented for consumer protection, anti-money laundering and counter financing of terrorism (AML/CFT), and risk management.”

Why are people in El Salvador unbanked? Do they think it’s by choice? Is the IMF unaware that their outdated and inefficient methods cause the bottleneck? Bad actors have incentives to bypass AML and KYC procedures. They do it with ease. Normal people can’t produce all those documents. And for banks, the cost of processing all that data makes acquiring a new client expensive. There are no incentives to serve the lower-income population.

“Recently announced plans to use the proceeds of new sovereign bond issuances to invest in Bitcoin, and the implications of trading more broadly in Bitcoin, will require a very careful analysis of implications for, and potential risks to, financial stability.”

Translation: What’s all this about a Bitcoin City?!!!!! And they’re building a pet hospital?! ALERT! ALERT!

The US Pauses Relations With El Salvador

In semi-related news, Reuters informs that U.S. Chargé d’Affaires Jean Manes said in local TV that relationships between the two countries are on hold. “Obviously we’re on a bit of a pause because the government of El Salvador is not giving a signal that it has an interest in our relationship,” she said. “On behalf of the White House, the State Department, we’ve offered a bridge, and the (Salvadoran) government decided not to take it. As far as we’re concerned, we’re interested in having the best relationship with El Salvador.”

Sure, Manes. That sounds totally believable. Nothing suspicious here.

Featured Image: AbsolutVision on Pixabay | Charts by TradingView

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El Salvador’s Chivo And Bitcoin Adoption In Mindblowing Facts And Stats

Why didn’t we thought of measuring Chivo and Bitcoin adoption this way? Cero anecdotal evidence. Only facts, numbers, and reports from wherever we can get them. What do we know about the Chivo Wallet’s Lightning node? What apps besides the government wallet are the Salvadorans using? Are they happy with them? Investor and blogger Kevin Rooke has a fresh take on El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption and we’re here to summarize it. 

“I wanted a deeper understanding of how real people in El Salvador are interacting with Bitcoin, so I went off in search of other success metrics.”

Related Reading | New To Bitcoin? Learn To Trade Crypto With The NewsBTC Trading Course

However, since “the Lightning Network is private by design,” it’s hard to accurately measure “payment volumes and the flow of funds between various wallets and exchanges.” So, what did Kevin Rooke do? He looked everywhere else for hard data about Chivo and Bitcoin adoption. Let’s explore what he found.

BTC price chart for 09/24/2021 on Exmo | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
The Chivo Ecosystem Is Growing Fast

To measure the Chivo wallet’s adoption, Rooke used the official information provided by President Bukele. Not ideal, but not uncommon either. It’s easier to get info about the Chivo Lightning node because you can check all the public info here. But wait, why is the Salvadorean government running a Lightning node?

“Just like every other participant on Bitcoin’s Lightning Network, Chivo runs a Lightning node. Since Chivo is a custodial wallet, all Lightning payments that Chivo users send to and from other Lightning wallets will transfer liquidity to and from Chivo’s node.”

Through those sources, what did the author find out about the Chivo ecosystem?

  • At the moment, “Chivo’s node has 12.7 BTC of public capacity.” Which is 1,269,941,898 sats.
  • The Chivo node “ranks 83rd among public Lightning nodes.” 
  • At the time of writing, it’s connected to 58 other channels, but this number changes daily.
  • Back to the iOS App Store and Google Play Store, the Chivo wallet remains at the top of the popularity list, “beating all the most popular social media apps like WhatsApp, TikTok, and Instagram.”
  • O bet you haven’t thought about this one, “By onboarding over 1.6 million users in just two weeks, Chivo is likely the most popular Lightning Network app in the world today.”

What About The Other Bitcoin Apps? Are They Popular In El Salvador?

Ok, granted. El Salvador’s government incentivizes the downloading of the Chivo wallet app with $30. That has to move the needle. However, when it comes to all the other Bitcoin apps, such an incentive doesn’t exist. How are they measuring up to other financial apps? 

El Salvador’s most popular apps for September 2021 | Source: Kevin Rooke

This infographic says it all:

  • “Salvadorans are already showing strong preference for Bitcoin apps over banking and remittance apps on a national scale,” as the graphic shows.
  • To put it in numbers, “9 and 13 of the top 20 apps on the respective app stores” are Bitcoin apps. And Chivo is at number one.
  • “Most of El Salvador’s banks and payment processors have user ratings of 2-4 stars,” that’s the traditional banking system for you.
  •  On the other hand, “Bitcoin related apps have user ratings of 3-5 stars.” Even though it’s still early, the facts are the facts. It should be noted that the Chivo app is at the lower end of that spectrum.

Related Reading | How Big Is Bitcoin’s Lightning Network? The Answer Will Surprise You

Besides that, Kevin Rooke identified a truth that might be obvious to some, but has to be said:

“The millions of Salvadorans that have already been onboarded to the Lightning Network aren’t Silicon Valley nerds or early tech enthusiasts. They’re regular people that are making a conscious choice to use the Lightning Network because it saves them time and money.”

And they don’t have to use the Chivo ecosystem if they don’t want to. That’s a fact.

Featured Image by Ray Aucott on Unsplash – Charts by TradingView

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Is BitGo Behind El Salvador’s Chivo Wallet? This Old School Mag Thinks So

Where did BitGo come from? In all of this time covering El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law, the name wasn’t in the picture. Now, all of a sudden, Forbes claims that BitGo’s technology is behind the controversial Chivo wallet. How and when did this happen? Or, more importantly, is this real news or a paid piece to take advantage of the “historic moment for cryptocurrency adoption.” 

Related Reading | NewsBTC Crypto Trading Course. For FREE.99

Not to be conspiratorial, but Forbes’ tone through this whole piece has a press-release-feel to it.

“For months, El Salvador has kept many of Chivo’s details under wraps with the nation’s 40-year-old president, Nayib Bukele, teasing the wallet’s launch on Twitter just last week. However, Forbes has learned El Salvador appears to have tapped cryptocurrency unicorn BitGo to provide Chivo’s wallet infrastructure and security platform, making the Palo Alto, Calif-based startup the nation’s exclusive hot-wallet provider in a historic moment for cryptocurrency adoption.”

What’s all this about “cryptocurrency unicorn BitGo” and “the nation’s exclusive hot-wallet provider in a historic moment”? Is this the appropriate vocabulary for a legacy media publication like this one? The most worrying sentence, however, is “Forbes has learned El Salvador appears to have tapped…” They’re not committing to anything here. It “appears” this way, but nothing is certain.

BTC price chart for 09/07/2021 on Bitstamp | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
What Does BitGo Say About The Announcement?

Not El Salvador’s government, nor Strike commented on the Forbes piece. They did get a quote from Mike Belshe, CEO of BitGo, who said:

“Digital assets look so different from what we’ve seen with other types of money, and so people wonder about how [they] fit in, but this is an opportunity to build financial freedom for the people of El Salvador” says BitGo CEO Mike Belshe, speaking from his home in Silicon Valley on Saturday. “The ability to send money in a hurry on a Saturday night, when banks are closed, across the planet and at almost no fees, it’s hard to put into words how empowering that is, and what we’ll see in El Salvador is, people will start figuring it out.” 

Did Belshe confirm the news? Is BitGo behind the Chivo App? He talks about “an opportunity to build financial freedom for the people of El Salvador.” So yeah, assuming Belshe was talking about this specific rumor, he seems to confirm the news. Indirectly. In a non-comital way.

To make things worse, the article ends presenting BitGo as their own marketing material would:

“Founded in 2013, BitGo has grown into one of the biggest cryptocurrency wallet companies in the world, raising more than $70 million in funding from investors including…”

Let’s Remember, What Did Strike Say About The Subject?

Strike’s Jack Mallers has met with the Bukeles, announced El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption, and the company has an office at Bitcoin Beach. Everyone was assuming that the technology behind the Chivo wallet was going to be Strike’s. However, if we go back to the interview in which Mallers told the whole story, our sister site Bitcoinist quotes him saying:

“There’s no commercial agreement between Strike and the government of El Salvador.

“In fact, I advised and gave my opinion of the opposite. The economies of scale and network effects associated with open networks are so powerful. Just by plugging in to them you’re going to get the freemarket competition that every country would die for.”

Related Reading | Tomorrow, The Community Will Buy $30 In BTC To Support El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law

Did President Bukele take his advice and went with another company? Can we trust Forbes even if it sounds like a copy-and-pasted press release? Is BitGo’s technology behind the Chivo Wallet? We will know for sure very soon.

Featured Image by Chräcker Heller from Pixabay – Charts by TradingView