The government of the impoverished Central American nation aims to spend up to $75 million as part of a plan to hand out $30 to people who sign up to an e-wallet called Chivo, or “Cool.” That software-based system would allow an estimated 2.5 million Salvadorans to buy goods or pay for services in U.S. dollars or bitcoin, El Salvador’s two official currencies as of Sept 7.
President Nayib Bukele has said that adopting bitcoin will help attract foreign investment, foster more and cheaper financial services and lower the cost of sending and receiving remittances, which reached a high of almost $6 billion last year. The 40-year-old president also wants to lure foreign investors to develop geothermal power from volcanoes to supply the large amounts of electricity needed for mining the cryptocurrency.
WSJ (sub required)
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