El Salvador recruits Mike Novogratz-backed crypto unicorn BitGo to code its official bitcoin wallet

El Salvador recruits Mike Novogratz-backed crypto unicorn BitGo to code its official bitcoin wallet

El Salvador roped in California-based crypto unicorn BitGo to provide code for its official wallet, making the Mike Novogratz-backed startup the country's exclusive hot-wallet provider, Tuesday. The government's cryptocurrency app, called Chivo - which is local slang for "cool" - can be used by Salvadorans who download and sign up to it using a national ID. President Nayib Bukele Bukele a glimpse of the Chivo app just last week. Chivo's application programming interface, or API, and security platform were provided by BitGo, one of the biggest crypto wallet companies in the world, according to Forbes. Existing BitGo investor Galaxy Digital, founded by billionaire Mike Novogratz, announced in May that it would in the industry's first billion-dollar deal. Novogratz appeared to confirm the Forbes report by cheering BitGo of the story on Tuesday. Citizens of the Central American country can choose to use other crypto wallets, but only those who download Chivo will receive the $30 in bitcoin that . For now, the wallet supports only bitcoin and US dollars. People won't incur fees when making transactions with a counterparty, but funds that are withdrawn come at a cost. "Digital assets look so different from what we've seen with other types