La Jornada – 70.1% of Salvadorans do not trust the Bitcoin project, according to a survey

San Salvador. Seven out of 10 Salvadorans said they did not trust the government’s notorious plan regarding bitcoin, after more than four months of trading the cryptocurrency as legal tender in the Central American country, a poll revealed on Friday.

El Salvador in September became the first country in the world to adopt cryptocurrency, in parallel with the dollar, as a means of facilitating the sending of remittances by immigrants from the United States, although its implementation was marked by a series of digital government failures. Wallet system and protests in the streets of the capital.

According to a survey conducted between December 7-17 of 1,298 people by the University Institute of Public Opinion of the Jesuit University of Central America (UCA), 35.3 percent of citizens do not trust bitcoin much, 34.8 percent, none, 14.1 percent, a lot and 13.2 percent for some.

On September 2, days before the adoption of cryptocurrency was formalized, another poll conducted by the same institution indicated that nearly 70 percent of Salvadorans did not agree with the government’s decision, while the vast majority of the population were unaware of its use and did not They trust the project.

President Neb Pöckel, who personally promoted the scheme, has so far announced 1,391 bitcoin purchases without making the amounts and purchases transparent. The famous president is also planning to issue $1 billion in bitcoin bonds between February and March.

“Nearly four months after its implementation, there is still a significant lack of knowledge about bitcoin. There is a high level of mistrust,” the president of the University of Central Asia, Andrew Oliva, said when presenting the study. The presidency did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment. .

For 25.6 percent of those surveyed, the unprecedented project reported the wealthy, 20.5 percent to the government, 19 percent to foreign investors, 13.2 percent to entrepreneurs, and 10.9 percent to the rest of the population.

56.6 percent claimed to have downloaded the official Chivo digital wallet, a local word for “good,” compared to 43.4 percent who did not. Among those who downloaded the app, 55.1% used it only once to collect $30 incentive, 17.8% used it once a month, 14.3% used it two or three times a week, and 4.2% used it daily.