A survey by the Chamber of Commerce reveals that 14% of companies in El Salvador use BTC

El Salvador, the country that is the rising star in the eyes of every Bitcoin supporter, has seen a slow BTC adoption rate since the country recognized it as legal tender in September last year.

As per a survey by the Chamber of Commerce which polled 337 companies between January 15 and February 9, only 14% of the companies have transacted in BTC since September. More than 90% of the companies said they experienced little impact post Bitcoin adoption in the country.

Moreover, 71% of the businesses questioned were micro or small businesses, 13% were medium-sized businesses, and 16% were large businesses.

El Salvador’s steady growth

While the low acceptance percentage may appear discouraging at first sight, El Salvador has been using the US dollar as its official currency since 2001. El Salvador’s major medium of exchange, unlike the currencies of other emerging nations, is not subject to exchange-rate volatility. Despite this, over one-in-ten firms in the country reported using Bitcoin over a five-month period.

In September last year, president Nayib Bukele claimed that every third person in the country was using the official Chivo wallet.

Even while agencies like the International Monetary Fund and Moody’s Investors Service have warned against embracing Bitcoin, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has placed it near the core of his economic growth strategy. Bukele’s Bitcoin risk, according to Moody’s analyst Jaime Reusche, could jeopardize his country’s sovereign credit outlook.

El Salvador, on the other hand, is pressing forward with its crypto strategy by issuing $1 billion in Bitcoin bonds. The revenues of the sale, also known as Volcano Bonds, will be used to fund Bitcoin City, a fully functional city with no carbon emission. It will mine the digital asset using geothermal energy.

Bukele will be speaking at the Bitcoin 2022 conference, where he has promised a “huge surprise.”