Early stumble as El Salvador becomes first country to use bitcoin as currency
- President Nayib Bukele used his Twitter account to explain issues to the nation after the digital wallet used for transactions stopped working
- Meanwhile, the value of bitcoin plummeted from more than US$52,000 per coin to US$42,000, before recovering about half of that loss
El Salvador became the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender on Tuesday, but the roll-out stumbled in its first hours and President Nayib Bukele said the digital wallet used for transactions was not functioning.
For part of the morning, El Salvador’s president became tech support for a nation stepping into the world of cryptocurrency. Bukele marshaled his Twitter account – with more than 2.8 million followers – to walk users through what was happening.
Bukele explained that the digital wallet Chivo had been disconnected while server capacity was increased.
The president said it was a relatively simple problem. “We prefer to correct it before we connect it again,” Bukele said. He encouraged followers to download the app and leave comments about how it was going.
Meanwhile, the value of bitcoin plummeted early Tuesday, dropping from more than US$52,000 per coin to US$42,000, before recovering about half of that loss – an example of the volatility that worries many.
