Following El Salvador’s introduction of bitcoin as legal tender, hundreds of Salvadorans say that money has vanished from their digital wallets.
The government offered each resident $30 in bitcoin via their Chivo wallet, a digital account created up by the government, in September. The currency might be used to pay for groceries or taxes.
Hundreds of citizens, on the other hand, say that their payments were not accepted by stores and that monies had vanished from their accounts according to a Twitter user tweeting under the pseudonym El Comisonado. El Comisionado has collected over 50 examples of Bitcoin inexplicably going missing from Salvadoran Chivo wallets.
“The Government has not responded, nor does it acknowledge the errors,” He said
“It’s one of the things people are demanding, that they respond to their complaints. Many have waited several months for a response to get the money back,” He added.
Zaira Navas, a member of the El Salvador National Civil Police and Rogzy, a Bitcoin commentator, have experienced similar issues.
“I don’t think Chivo is secure and no one can verify it since the code is not open source,” Rogzy said. “Today very few people use Chivo, because many do not know how it works,” El Comisionado reportedly added.
Of course, this isn’t the first time President Bukele has run across a Bitcoin roadblock in his effort to embrace cryptocurrency.
El Salvador’s Bitcoin journey
President Bukele first claimed that El Salvador would embrace Bitcoin as legal cash in May, speaking to a raucous Bitcoin maximalist crowd at the 2021 Bitcoin Conference in Miami.
His policy has been a source of contention since then. Bukele’s draconian Bitcoin intentions have prompted citizens to take to the streets time and time again. Bukele’s Bitcoin policy has been attacked by some of the world’s most powerful financial institutions, including the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
Bukele’s authoritarian streak has been well documented, and while it may have existed before El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law, it has been present ever since the president became a Bitcoin maximalist.
Mario Gomez, an outspoken critic, was jailed without a warrant earlier this year for criticizing the government’s stance. Shortly after Gomez’s arrest, two Salvadoran business people spoke up (under the condition of anonymity).
“The cops aren’t required to take anyone to court.” “They merely kidnap one of the vocal dissidents for a couple of hours or days to intimidate him,” one stated.
“It breaks my heart to watch Bitcoin maximalists all around the world praising this,” one said. “If they actually sat down and studied the rules and regulations, it is utterly antithetical to everything they preach.”