Over 90% of Salvadorans Don’t Trade in Bitcoin: Survey
Salvadorans are not warm to their country's adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender, with 92% of them not making transactions using the cryptocurrency, according to a recent survey.
According to an Oct. 10 survey by Francisco Gavidia of the University of San Salvador, 7.5% of respondents used Bitcoin (BTC) to make transactions, while 0.5% chose not to answer the question.
A previous survey by the Central American Public Opinion Institute found that 88 percent of Salvadorans would not use bitcoin for transactions by 2023. The latest results suggest a slight decline in bitcoin usage in the Central American nation.
92% of Salvadorans surveyed said they did not use Bitcoin for transactions. Source: UFG
The study interviewed 1,224 El Salvadoran adults, asking them a series of questions about the most pressing political and economic issues.
About 60% of respondents believed that the country was moving in the right direction and gave strong approval to President Naib Bukke.
However, the survey found that only 1.3% believe that Bitcoin should be the “main bet” for the country's future, with respondents overwhelmingly saying that education and industry should be the primary focus.
Bukele was elected in June 2019 and has taken a controversial but locally popular crackdown on organized crime groups, imprisoning 1% of the country's population.
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Salvadorans widely support the move, but Buchel's move has been criticized by human rights groups, who say there has been little due process and widespread abuse of detainees.
In September 2021, Buckele moved El Salvador to become the first country to accept Bitcoin as legal tender, and has since courted foreign capital by offering Bitcoin “freedom” visas and promising to develop a Bitcoin City.
Bukele was sworn in for a second five-year term as president in June of this year, promising to position the country as a “world leader” in various industries such as crypto.
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