BERAT YILDIZ

ISTANBUL UNIVERSITY

Bitcoin in El Salvador
as Legal Tender
 About Goegraphy and Demografy
El Salvador is a central america country populated with
El Salvador 7 million.

Economy
Even the economy came to the collapse at sometimes,
it is the most industrialized and stable country in the
region.

Bitcoin Legislation
In 2021, El Salvador became the first country in the
world to use cryptocurrency as official currency.

BERAT YILDIZ
ISTANBUL UNIVERSITY
Key Points of Bitcoin Adoption

Point 1
·More than half its citizens rely exclusively on cash, rather than credit or debit cards.

Point 2
70 percent of households have no bank account and nearly 90 percent do not use mobile banking
Incentives and
Expectations
Can It Satisfy Expectations?
The government provided major adoption incentives
nationwide to make a widespread use of bitcoin.
Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic provided an
additional incentive to adopt touchless payment
methods. This setting gave the cryptocurrency a prime
opportunity.

BERAT YILDIZ
ISTANBUL UNIVERSITY
How can Bitcoin be used, as a legal tender

P1 P2
may be used to discharge debts, without limitation, in any
transaction
may be accepted as payment for goods or services

P3
Any tax payment may be paid in bitcoin
 Increasing efficiency in international remittances

more than 20% of El Salvador’s GDP comes from

remittances, meaning that a large part of the
population depends on money transfers from
outside the country. In this situation, cost of a
remittance from another country can be up to 30-
Reasons of 50% of the value of the transfer

the
Decrease the percentage of underbanked people

Legislation approximately 70% of the population in El Salvador

does not have a bank account . Bitcoin technology
could allow a larger part of the population to have
an easier access to financial services

Reduce reliance upon the US Dollar

one of the main goals of Salvadoran law is to

embrace Bitcoin as a neutral store of value for
savings
CHIVO
SALVADORIAN BITCOIN WALLET APP

The goal is to make an entry point for Salvadorians who want to Access and detain bitcoin

Also, any El Salvador citizen

The use of chivo won’t have any
who registers the wallet can
costs or commissions by making
receive $30 worth of Bitcoin
transactions.
from the Government.
 GLOBAL IMPLICATIONS and RESULTS IN SOCIAL LIFE OF SALVADORIANS

80 100 100

60 75 75

40 50 50

20 25 25

0 0 0
BITCOIN OTHER BITCOIN DOLLARS BITCOIN DOLLARS

20% 5% 90%
accepting bitcoin as a all sales are paid in businesses transform
money from sales in
means of payment bitcoin bitcoin into dollars

Commentators expressed that the El Salvador’s move could result in a domino effect that may lead other
countries to adopt Bitcoin as a legal tender, as well
 RESULT FOR NOW

Bitcoin has not even come close to

replacing El Salvador's hard
currency, the US dollar.

Former El Salvador Central Bank Governor said:

“Nobody talks about Bitcoin here anymore, it's kind of forgotten.

“I don't know if you could call it a failure, but it certainly wasn't a
success.”