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A Bloomberg reporter tells the story of how he tried to pay all his bills in El Salvador in Bitcoin using the Chivo wallet during a five-day visit. It didn't go so well. Only 10 of almost 50 businesses had taken his Bitcoin, amounting to $485 out of $1,700 he spent. And only four crypto transactions had been entirely seamless. He also paid $40 in Bitcoin fees, such as levies for transferring the currency between Coinbase and his digital wallet. His Visa, by contrast, paid him $20 in cash-back rewards.

The El Salvador government has launched a proof-of-reserves website to provide real-time on-chain transparency of its Bitcoin holdings. The government currently holds 5,748 Bitcoin currently worth about $350 million. They were bought at an average cost of $43,097 per Bitcoin, for a substantial unrealized profit. https://nayibtracker.com/

IMF staff and the El Salvadoran authorities reached a staff-level agreement on a new arrangement under the IMF's Extended Fund Facility (EFF) for about $1.4 billion to support the government's reform agenda. The agreement is subject to IMF Executive Board approval. Provisions on the agreement imply that if approved, El Salvador would have to scale back certain aspects of its bitcoin strategy. Bitcoin acceptance will be made voluntary for the private sector and public sector involvement in crypto activities will be confined. Also, taxes will only be paid in U.S. dollars, and the government will gradually unwind its role in the Chivo digital wallet program. https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2024/12/18/pr-24485-el-salvador-imf-reaches-staff-level-agreement-on-an-eff-arrangement

Nearly 90% of Bitcoin service providers registered in El Salvador are not operating, based on data from the central bank showing that out of 181 companies officially registered to offer Bitcoin services in the country, 161 are marked as "non-operating." Only 20 firms are still active, including the government-backed Chivo Wallet. At least 22 of the inactive providers may have failed to meet the regulatory standards outlined in Article 4 of the Bitcoin Law Regulation, which requires crypto businesses to operate with "high standards of integrity and honesty."

"In 2021, El Salvador declared bitcoin legal tender. According to President Nayib Bukele, the measure was intended to expand access to financial services in a country with a high proportion of unbanked people and to cheapen and ease remittance flows for migrants and their families. In this article, we inquire about the use of bitcoin as a tool for financial inclusion and contend that this policy needs to be seen in the broader context of democratic backsliding. We show that bitcoin has not translated into financial inclusion, but instead, the bitcoin law serves as a public relations tool to capture new support from like-minded constituencies, build closer relations with them, and empower international "crypto-bros." On the other hand, this is a tool to benefit a close circle close to the president with the use of public funds, as part of a broader historical shift of elites in El Salvador."