{"id":137924,"date":"2021-09-06T18:14:59","date_gmt":"2021-09-06T18:14:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/?p=137924"},"modified":"2021-09-06T18:14:59","modified_gmt":"2021-09-06T18:14:59","slug":"migrant-families-wary-as-el-salvador-becomes-first-to-adopt-bitcoin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/migrant-families-wary-as-el-salvador-becomes-first-to-adopt-bitcoin\/","title":{"rendered":"Migrant families wary as El Salvador becomes first to adopt bitcoin"},"content":{"rendered":"

COLON, El Salvador (Reuters) – Each month, Salvadoran tailor Julio Ramirez receives a small wire transfer from his two daughters in the United States, who have to pay a few dollars in commission fees for the transaction.<\/p>

Jaime Ramirez, 60-year-old tailor who receives remittances from his daughters living in the U.S., talks with Reuters at his shop in Colon, El Salvador, September 3, 2021. REUTERS\/Jose Cabezas<\/figcaption>

As of this week, El Salvador\u2019s government says its historic adoption of bitcoin as legal tender will save Salvadorans living abroad millions of dollars in transfer charges if they instead use the cryptocurrency to send their money home.<\/p>\n

Over 2.5 million Salvadorans live abroad – mostly in the United States – and in 2020 they sent back almost $6 billion, equivalent to 23% of the country\u2019s gross domestic product.<\/p>\n

But Ramirez, who has a small workshop in Colon, a poor municipality 19 kilometers (12 miles) west of the capital, San Salvador, said neither he nor his daughters in California have any intention of using the digital currency. They view it as a liability.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey say they\u2019re not sending it that way because they think they might lose the money; that it won\u2019t reach me,\u201d the 60-year-old said. \u201cWe\u2019re not planning to take the risk at any time.\u201d<\/p>\n

From Tuesday, Sept. 7, El Salvador will become the first country in the world to recognize the cryptocurrency as legal tender. President Nayib Bukele has said any Salvadoran can download the government digital wallet \u201cCHIVO\u201d – a local word meaning \u201cgood\u201d – to accept payments in bitcoin or dollars. Having installed the app on their phones, they will be able to withdraw dollars from government-backed cash machines.<\/p>\n

Polling suggests that Bukele, 40, is the most popular president in Latin America. But three months after he launched his bitcoin plan, skepticism about it remains widespread here, with surveys showing most Salvadorans opposed to its adoption.<\/p>\n

Bukele argues the cryptocurrency will make Salvadorans better off and stresses that using it is optional in the impoverished, dollarized Central American country.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur people pay $400 million a year in commissions for remittances,\u201d the president wrote on Twitter in August. \u201cThat saving alone will be a huge benefit for our people (or at least for those who want it).\u201d<\/p>

Slideshow ( 2 images )<\/span><\/figcaption>

But Ramirez said that even if his daughters were charged \u201cmaybe $10 to $15 for every $100\u201d sent home, bitcoin\u2019s volatility and the lack of information on the currency meant it was not a viable option. The tailor said he receives about $150 a month.<\/p>\n

Many Salvadorans polled in a recent Central American University study argue it will only benefit the rich, foreign investors, the government, business people and banks.<\/p>\n

Reuters spoke to 10 Salvadorans who send or receive remittances, and only one, Los Angeles-based restaurant manager Salvador Amaya, 51, said he planned to use bitcoin.<\/p>\n

\u201cEverything is a risk. If you never take risks, you\u2019ll never move forward,\u201d he said by telephone. \u201cI trust in our president, and if he\u2019s doing it, it\u2019s because he knows what he\u2019s doing.\u201d<\/p>\n

VOLATILITY<\/h2>\n

The other nine did not see things that way.<\/p>\n

Saida Rosales, a 27-year-old homemaker who receives money from her mother in the United States every week, says she is afraid of the rapid fluctuations in the value of bitcoin, which can vary by thousands of dollars in a single day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019ve heard it\u2019s like a stock price that goes up and down,\u201d she said. \u201cJust imagine, one day my mother makes me a deposit there, and then when she has a look, it\u2019s gone down and it\u2019ll be worth less than what she sent. I don\u2019t think we\u2019ll use it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most of the money sent back to El Salvador in 2020 was from the United States, followed by Canada, Spain and Italy. Of the total sum, 61.4% came through remittance companies and 37.8% through banking institutions, according to official data.<\/p>\n

A 2015 Central Bank study showed that over one-fifth of Salvadoran households rely on remittances to get by, and the government is doubling down on the bitcoin strategy.<\/p>\n

Bukele\u2019s administration is installing ATMs for the \u201cCHIVO\u201d digital wallet in various consulates in the United States to promote money transfers through the platform, according to a diplomatic official who spoke on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n

The foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment about the plan. A spokesperson for the presidency said the government would provide details in the coming days.<\/p>\n

Mario Perez, a 78-year-old street vendor of underwear, said bitcoin\u2019s volatility and the prevailing uncertainty over how to use it for transactions were a turn-off.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m not going to use it,\u201d he said as he went to collect a dollar wire transfer that his sister sends occasionally from the United States. \u201cNeither for remittances nor for work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Source: Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

COLON, El Salvador (Reuters) – Each month,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":137923,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[23054],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nMigrant families wary as El Salvador becomes first to adopt bitcoin - Pre Coin News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/migrant-families-wary-as-el-salvador-becomes-first-to-adopt-bitcoin\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Migrant families wary as El Salvador becomes first to adopt bitcoin - Pre Coin News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"COLON, El Salvador (Reuters) – Each month,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/migrant-families-wary-as-el-salvador-becomes-first-to-adopt-bitcoin\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Pre Coin News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-09-06T18:14:59+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/Migrant-families-wary-as-El-Salvador-becomes-first-to-adopt-bitcoin.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"mediabest\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/migrant-families-wary-as-el-salvador-becomes-first-to-adopt-bitcoin\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/precoinnews.com\/markets\/migrant-families-wary-as-el-salvador-becomes-first-to-adopt-bitcoin\/\",\"name\":\"Migrant families wary as El Salvador becomes first to adopt bitcoin - 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