Now a $30 starter account is also being offered in this country that has legalized bitcoin.

The President of El Salvador says the use of bitcoin will not be mandatory. But the country is also planning to offer a starter account with $30 (about Rs 2,200) to promote its use. Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya said on Thursday that the government would allocate $120 million (about Rs 890.70 crore) to set up 4 million starter bitcoin accounts, or “wallets,” though he doesn’t think many people will accept the offer. The wallet is known as “chivo”, which means “cool” or good.

President Nayib Bukele said that when the law goes into effect in September, accepting bitcoin will be optional.
“Nobody will have to accept bitcoin if they don’t want to,” Bukele said. Salvador’s Legislative Assembly on June 9 approved a law making bitcoin legal tender in the country, making it the first country to do so.

Zelaya said that $ 120 million would come out of the government’s general fund for the accounts. “A person who registers to promote the scheme will receive $30 in bitcoin.” “We expect to reach a maximum of 4 million wallets, which would mean covering $120 million, but I don’t think we will reach that amount,” he said. El Salvador’s national debt is already reaching worrying proportions.

The company, which has operated a bitcoin ATM in the Salvadoran beach town of El Zonte for nearly a year, announced that it is installing a second machine in the capital and plans to keep at least a dozen others in a shopping mall. making plans. Machines give or take dollars for bitcoin and give credit in bitcoin.

The digital currency can be used in any transaction in El Salvador and any business must accept payment in bitcoin. This can be left to those who do not know how to use them due to technical reasons. The US dollar will also continue to be the currency of El Salvador and no one will be obliged by law to pay in bitcoin.

The exchange rate between the two currencies will be decided by the market. All prices will be able to be expressed in bitcoins. However, for accounting purposes, the dollar will remain the reference currency. The government will train people who will be able to conduct bitcoin transactions. The economy ministry has said that 70 percent of Salvadorans do not have access to traditional financial services. He said the country needed to “authorize the circulation of a digital currency that specifically complies with free market norms” to stimulate growth.

The President said that this will lead to increased financial inclusion, investment, tourism, innovation and economic growth. The legislature established a government trust fund to guarantee automatic convertibility into the dollar. El Salvador received about $6 billion (about Rs 44,535 crore) from Salvadorans living abroad last year, which is about 16 percent of the country’s GDP. Bukele has said that bitcoin could eliminate the cost of sending that money home.

Experts say it is unclear whether highly volatile cryptocurrencies would be a good choice for the unbanked. Only time will tell whether the new system translates into a real investment in El Salvador.