In El Salvador, which was the first in the world to legalize bitcoin as a means of payment

In El Salvador, which was the first in the world to legalize bitcoin as a means of payment, the "national crypto wallet" Chivo appeared. This is an application for smartphones, through which payments began to be accepted not only by local supermarkets, but also by representatives of the global chains Starbucks and McDonald’s.

Every citizen of El Salvador receives $ 30 worth of bitcoins upon registration, Time reports. This is about 0.0005 bitcoin.

All 19 McDonald's restaurants in El Salvador have partnered with Chivo. As a result, you can pay with bitcoins both in the chain's establishments and in delivery applications when ordering food from McDonald's to your home.

As the owner of a retail outlet in El Salvador, Enrique Hernandez, explained, the main advantage of a crypto wallet is the speed of settlements. In addition, local sellers have learned to earn extra money from exchange rate fluctuations. They convert bitcoins to dollars and vice versa, and thus can make a profit

But there are also disadvantages. For example, barista Josue Martinez said that the payment system often does not work correctly. Failures can occur due to lack of quality communication, but sometimes their cause cannot be determined.

According to analysts, the success of the current President of El Salvador for re-election largely depends on the stability of Bitcoin. The country has already protested against Bitcoin fluctuations.

Many Salvadorans abandoned the project as soon as they were able to convert their free bitcoins into dollars through one of the 199 Chivo ATMs installed across the country. There used to be 200 of them, but one burned down during an anti-government protest.