I have some interesting news to share with you.

When I spoke to building management yesterday, the receptionist told me that two other international guests had arrived this month and requested to pay for their rooms with Bitcoin.

This was surprising, given that Bitcoin payments are very seldom requested in the building. The anecdotal evidence suggests there may be a slight increase in Bitcoin payment demand.

The receptionist was a little confused though, and had a few questions about the Chivo wallet. In this post, we'll discuss some challenges Chivo wallet users face, as well as how some businesses still refuse to accept Bitcoin.

Chivo Refresher

While there are other wallets that businesses can use to receive Bitcoin payments (such as IBEXPAY, Athena Pay, and others) remember that most establishments in El Salvador use the government-sponsored Chivo wallet.

When receiving payments with Chivo, the recipient can choose normal Bitcoin, lightning Bitcoin, or a digital form of the USD (not to be confused with decentralized stablecoins, by the way). Due to Bitcoin's price volatility, some businesses have a policy to only accept these digital dollars.

Many workers seem to miss the toggle in the wallet that converts received Bitcoin directly into the aforementioned digital dollars. In this case, the receptionist had received the payment in Bitcoin, but forgot to toggle the switch, and needed help converting it to dollars. Luckily, the wallet has a "convert" option.

The problem with holding Bitcoin short-term, of course, is the volatility. For example, you may accept a $700 payment in the morning and it might only be worth $600 by the evening, if the markets are in turmoil that day. Therefore, some form of stablecoin is a necessity for most establishments.

For crypto purists, the fact that the digital dollars (and Bitcoin) is custodial within the Chivo wallet is definitely a turn off. That said, people with technical skills can legally use self-custody Bitcoin wallets in the country too, when they are ready to make the transition.

Overall Adoption of Bitcoin

Since El Salvador signed a new agreement with the IMF, the reality is that Bitcoin is no longer technically "legal tender" in the country. The loan contract with the money sharks specifies that businesses are no longer required to accept Bitcoin, and the government will have to either sell or shutdown the Chivo wallet entirely.

On the same day I spoke with building management, I visited a nearby Subway for a quick dinner. Interestingly, there was a (twisted) Strike sign on the entrance indicating that they accepted Bitcoin as payment. However, when I asked to pay with it, the worker gave me a puzzled look before finally saying "no" with a laugh.

Despite the Salvadoran authorities legalizing Bitcoin payments, the US dollar is still in high demand (or, at least, habitually accepted) here.

Until next time...

Although my anecdotal evidence suggests an increase in demand for Bitcoin payments by foreigners, there are still many local establishments that refuse to accept it.

That said, as restrictions and censorship within traditional finance continue to heighten, we will likely see more demand from tourists and locals alike to pay with decentralized crypto in the future.

If you learned something new from this article, be sure to check out my other posts on crypto and finance here on the Hive blockchain. You can also follow me on InLeo for more frequent updates.

Further Reading

- Bitcoin Blues: Did El Salvador Just Surrender To The IMF?
- Increasing Censorship Is Going To Push Ever More Organizations And Individuals Into Crypto