President of El Salvador Nayib Bukele Abolishes All Taxes on Technological Innovation, AI and Application Programming

Previously, Bitcoin had been legal tender in El Salvador for three years, but currently people use it for less than transactions in 2022, at least for remittances.

Launch Cryptopotato, Sunday (16/4/2023), remittances in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies sent to El Salvador fell by 17.8 percent during the first two months of 2023 compared to 2022, according to the latest data published by the country’s Central Reserve Bank (BCR) reported by Agencia EFE.

As per the statement, El Salvador received a total of USD 15.98 million in remittances via cryptocurrency. This amount represents a decrease of USD 3.47 million compared to the same period during the previous year when the country registered more than USD 19.45 million in crypto remittances.

According to BCR information, remittances received via cryptocurrencies represent only 1.34 percent of the total received by the state, up to the latest report, amounting to nearly USD 1.2 Billion.

Although the percentage reduction in remittances over the past two months was almost 20 percent compared to 2022, the fact is that since the implementation of the Bitcoin Law, the use of cryptocurrencies for international transactions has not had a significant impact on the Salvadoran economy.

Most Salvadorans send money using traditional services, and the amount of money they send is about the same.

During 2022, more than USD 7 billion of remittances were sent to the Central American country. However, only USD 126 million was sent using cryptocurrency, according to Prensa Latina.