EXCLUSIVE El Salvador bitcoin transfers soar, but still a fraction of dollar remittances – Reuters

EXCLUSIVE El Salvador bitcoin transfers soar, but still a fraction of dollar remittances – Reuters

Small transfers of bitcoin to El Salvador jumped over four-fold in May from a year ago but still represent a small amount when compared to remittances sent in dollars, data shared with Reuters showed.

The Central American country last week became the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender, with President Nayib Bukele touting the cryptocurrency's potential as a remittance currency for Salvadorans overseas. read more

Monthly bitcoin transfers of under $1,000 - a proxy for money sent to the country from Salvadorans working abroad - totalled $1.7 million in May compared to $424,000 year earlier, U.S. crypto researcher Chainalysis found.