<p>El Salvador faced a rocky transition in its <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/in-a-first-bitcoin-becomes-legal-tender-in-el-salvador-1027868.html" target="_blank">adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender</a> on Tuesday. The government’s app for facilitating transactions — its “digital wallet” — went offline temporarily, protesters took to the streets of the capital to denounce the move, and the price of Bitcoin dropped sharply, demonstrating the volatility of the cryptocurrency market.</p>.<p>The country is the first to use Bitcoin as an official currency, encouraging businesses and citizens to use it in everyday transactions, and authorities struggled to smooth out glitches in the new system.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/business-news/cait-criticizes-gujarat-for-signing-mou-with-amazon-1028056.html" target="_blank">Read | CAIT criticizes Gujarat for signing MoU with Amazon</a></strong></p>.<p>President Nayib Bukele wrote on Twitter Tuesday morning that the digital wallet, which is called Chivo after a slang word for “cool,” would be available to Salvadorans in the United States and almost anywhere in the world. But even as large companies such as McDonald’s began accepting Bitcoin payments in El Salvador, for a time the wallet was not available to anyone, and the country slowed its rollout.</p>.<p>Bukele also announced on Twitter that servers were temporarily being taken offline as Chivo added capacity, and he acknowledged issues with downloads. “We prefer to correct it before reconnecting it,” he said.</p>.<p>When the law to adopt Bitcoin was passed in June, experts warned of potential instability and unnecessary risk to El Salvador’s fragile economy.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/oil-climbs-amid-slow-supply-return-after-hurricane-ida-1028221.html" target="_blank">Read | Oil climbs amid slow supply return after Hurricane Ida</a></strong></p>.<p>International financial regulators have also voiced legal concerns. Apart from the economic risks of Bitcoin’s volatility, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which is considering a financing deal with El Salvador, have said making Bitcoin an official currency could leave a country open to money laundering and other illicit financial activity.</p>.<p>On Tuesday, around 1,200 people protested in San Salvador, the capital, to oppose the adoption of cryptocurrency as well as judicial changes pushed through by Bukele’s party.</p>.<p>A majority of Salvadorans polled last month by La Prensa Gráfica, a newspaper, said they were against El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin, and nearly three-quarters said they would not accept the digital currency as payment. Only about a third of Salvadorans use the internet, and almost a quarter live below the poverty line.</p>.<p>The price of Bitcoin broke $52,000 on Monday before falling to around $45,000 on Tuesday.</p>.<p><b data-stringify-type="bold">Check out the latest DH Videos here:</b></p>
<p>El Salvador faced a rocky transition in its <a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/international/in-a-first-bitcoin-becomes-legal-tender-in-el-salvador-1027868.html" target="_blank">adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender</a> on Tuesday. The government’s app for facilitating transactions — its “digital wallet” — went offline temporarily, protesters took to the streets of the capital to denounce the move, and the price of Bitcoin dropped sharply, demonstrating the volatility of the cryptocurrency market.</p>.<p>The country is the first to use Bitcoin as an official currency, encouraging businesses and citizens to use it in everyday transactions, and authorities struggled to smooth out glitches in the new system.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/business-news/cait-criticizes-gujarat-for-signing-mou-with-amazon-1028056.html" target="_blank">Read | CAIT criticizes Gujarat for signing MoU with Amazon</a></strong></p>.<p>President Nayib Bukele wrote on Twitter Tuesday morning that the digital wallet, which is called Chivo after a slang word for “cool,” would be available to Salvadorans in the United States and almost anywhere in the world. But even as large companies such as McDonald’s began accepting Bitcoin payments in El Salvador, for a time the wallet was not available to anyone, and the country slowed its rollout.</p>.<p>Bukele also announced on Twitter that servers were temporarily being taken offline as Chivo added capacity, and he acknowledged issues with downloads. “We prefer to correct it before reconnecting it,” he said.</p>.<p>When the law to adopt Bitcoin was passed in June, experts warned of potential instability and unnecessary risk to El Salvador’s fragile economy.</p>.<p><strong><a href="https://www.deccanherald.com/business/oil-climbs-amid-slow-supply-return-after-hurricane-ida-1028221.html" target="_blank">Read | Oil climbs amid slow supply return after Hurricane Ida</a></strong></p>.<p>International financial regulators have also voiced legal concerns. Apart from the economic risks of Bitcoin’s volatility, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, which is considering a financing deal with El Salvador, have said making Bitcoin an official currency could leave a country open to money laundering and other illicit financial activity.</p>.<p>On Tuesday, around 1,200 people protested in San Salvador, the capital, to oppose the adoption of cryptocurrency as well as judicial changes pushed through by Bukele’s party.</p>.<p>A majority of Salvadorans polled last month by La Prensa Gráfica, a newspaper, said they were against El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin, and nearly three-quarters said they would not accept the digital currency as payment. Only about a third of Salvadorans use the internet, and almost a quarter live below the poverty line.</p>.<p>The price of Bitcoin broke $52,000 on Monday before falling to around $45,000 on Tuesday.</p>.<p><b data-stringify-type="bold">Check out the latest DH Videos here:</b></p>