El Salvador’s national Bitcoin system crashes as cryptocurrency becomes legal tender

El Salvador’s national Bitcoin system crashes as cryptocurrency becomes legal tender

El Salvador's move to become the first country in the world to make Bitcoin legal tender was marred on launch day when the government's digital wallet system crashed.

President Nayib Bukele confirmed that the Chivo Wallet had been taken offline following complaints about installation problems. No time has been given for when it will be online again.

He said that server capacity was being increased - a "relatively straightforward problem to fix", but one that needs the system to be disconnected.