El Salvador is Preparing to Put its Bitcoin Law in Effect this September

It has been slightly over two months since the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, announced that he wishes to see Bitcoin become legal tender in his country. After the initial shock that the news caused, and of course, the joy within the crypto industry — the president, his country, and the idea itself all faced a lot of criticism and opposition.

However, the president remained firm in his decision, and the small country is just getting ready to put its Bitcoin Law in effect this September. In preparation for the event, Nayib Bukele has revealed the official structure for the implementation of the law, which includes the Chivo wallet app that is officially recommended for storing coins. The wallet should be available for download on the same day as the law’s implementation, September 7th.

El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin: What is there to know?

The president announced this in a series of Tweets yesterday, saying that the wallet will have a feature that will allow users to convert their BTC into USD automatically and rather easily. Of course, users can always opt to keep their funds in the form of Bitcoin, and those who choose this path can withdraw the coins for cash at a later date at over 200 ATMs. All of the ATMs will be instituted by El Salvador’s government, so none of them will be illegally placed, potential scam machines, and alike.

In addition, there will be 50 branches across the country, available for easy withdrawals and deposits. They will also offer education on how the citizens can use ATMs and wallets alike. The president pointed out that cash withdrawals can be done at any time, 24/7, and there will be no extra commissions.

To provide some form of incentive for switching to crypto, and especially for downloading and opening the wallet account, the El Salvador President also said that every adult citizen who does it will receive $30 in Bitcoin. Another major advantage that he pointed out is in regards to the cheap use of digital currencies. Specifically, using Bitcoin for handling and transferring money will save El Salvador’s citizens a small fortune when it comes to remittances.

After all, he noted that “Our town pays $400 million a year in commissions on remittances. Only that saving will be a huge benefit for our people.” Among other advantages, he pointed out that people would no longer have to carry cash, which would make them safer on the streets, while all of their money would still be close at hand for practical use and easy spending.

Finally, there are also advantages for the country’s citizens in foreign lands, which can use the wallet app to quickly and easily send money to their friends and families back home. Of course, more traditional options, such as Western Union (WU ), will still be available. However, due to their long queues and high commissions, they are clearly a less practical solution than the Chivo wallet.

Answering criticism and dismissing conspiracy theories

As mentioned earlier, El Salvador did not see a lot of support when its president first laid out plans to adopt Bitcoin in the country. Many were criticizing the plan, and openly opposing it. The World Bank openly refused to assist with the coin’s implementation.

Some may have believed that Bukele wanted to compel the country’s citizens to switch to crypto completely, but as he himself has noted, this is not the case. El Salvador’s bitcoin adoption was, is, and will be 100% optional for all citizens of the country. He simply believes that Bitcoin is a better solution for a financially struggling country, that will save a fortune on fees, while making it easy to send, receive, manage and spend the money at the same time.

He also addressed other claims that Bitcoin adoption would hurt his people, stating that some will prefer to believe the thieving opponents who have done nothing for the people other than loot the entire country, destroy it and pay for the assassinations of El Salvador’s citizens. However, he feels confident that there will be many who will opt to give cryptocurrencies, as well as the government, a chance and the benefit of the doubt.

These will be the people who will benefit the most on September 7th and onwards, as El Salvador officially adopts Bitcoin and opens up the door to the future of money.