Payments

El Salvador adopts bitcoin as currency; US operator to deploy crypto ATMs

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August 26, 2021

Athena Bitcoin Global, a U.S. based ATM operator, plans to to install a network of bitcoin ATMs in El Salvador, which has become the first country to adopt bitcoin as a natural currency. Athena Bitcoin Global will invest $1 million in the project, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

Salvadorans using a mobile wallet app will be able to scan a QR code at the ATM's screen to exchange bitcoin for U.S. dollars, which will be the country's official currencies as of Sept. 7.

The El Salvador government plans to spend up to $75 million and provide $30 to people who sign up for an e-wallet called Chivo, which mens "cool." The software would enable an estimated 2.5 million Salvadorans to purchase goods or services in bitcoin or U.S. dollars.