Recent developments indicate that Salvadorans are largely not embracing Bitcoin as a medium of exchange, despite its status as legal tender in the country. A recent survey revealed that a staggering 92% of respondents refrain from using Bitcoin for transactions. Only 7.5% of participants reported utilizing the cryptocurrency in their financial dealings, while a negligible 0.5% opted not to respond. This data reflects a slight decrease in Bitcoin usage compared to earlier findings, where 88% of Salvadorans indicated they did not use Bitcoin at all for transactions in 2023.
Conducted with 1,224 adults, the survey from San Salvador’s Francisco Gavidia University explored citizens’ political and economic priorities. Approximately 60% of those surveyed felt the nation was heading in the right direction and expressed significant support for President Nayib Bukele. However, the majority expressed that Bitcoin should not be the primary focus for the country’s future, with only 1.3% advocating for it as the primary economic strategy. Instead, respondents showed a preference for directing efforts towards education and the industrial sector.
Nayib Bukele, who has been in office since June 2019, has garnered attention for his contentious yet popular measures against organized crime, leading to the incarceration of a notable percentage of the population. His administration’s approach, while widely backed domestically, has attracted criticism from human rights organizations, pointing to concerns around due process and treatment of detainees.
Bukele’s groundbreaking decision to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in September 2021 aimed to attract foreign investment through initiatives such as Bitcoin “Freedom” visas and ambitious plans for a Bitcoin City. In June of this year, he secured a second term in office, pledging to establish El Salvador as an innovative leader across multiple sectors, including the cryptocurrency market.
