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One experiment I've wanted to try, and would if I were more confident in my Spanish, is to just call 20 random businesses in El Salvador and ask them if I could
by ALittleLight 4y ago
One experiment I've wanted to try, and would if I were more confident in my Spanish, is to just call 20 random businesses in El Salvador and ask them if I could pay in bitcoin. I've wondered how much of this is a publicity stunt versus real "Bitcoin is their currency" thing.
"Although the law requires all firms to accept bitcoin, in reality only 20 percent do so. Roughly 5 percent of all sales have been paid in bitcoin through Chivo Wallet, and just as most households using Chivo prefer to keep their money in cash rather than in bitcoin, 88 percent of firms convert their bitcoin into dollars."
20 percent of firms actually accepting bitcoin and 5 percent of all sales is actually much higher than I expected. If these numbers continue to grow that would be the first bit of evidence I've seen that makes me feel positive about crypto's future.
I'd also be curious to know where the bitcoin transactions are concentrated. I assume it's not a random 20% of firms and 5% of transactions. Is it crypto-tourists and resorts? Poor people who would see the most relative-incentive to adopt because of the 30 dollar bonus? Families with members working in other countries?
- duxup 4y agoThere have been a couple videos of folks walking around doing just that. The participation rate was not very high. It was hard to find anyone who said yes. People seemed to know what they’re asking but they just say no and move on… not even any effort to say something like “I do take cash” … just a hard no.