Last year alone remittances to El Salvador amounted to almost $6 billion, or 23% of its gross domestic product, one of the highest ratios in the world. Polls show Salvadorans are skeptical about using bitcoin and wary of the volatility of the cryptocurrency that critics say could increase regulatory and financial risks for financial institutions. El Zonte is part of the so-called Bitcoin Beach geared toward making the town one of the world’s first bitcoin economies. “Like all innovations, El Salvador’s bitcoin process has a learning curve. On Monday, El Salvador bought its first 400 of the cryptocurrency, temporarily pushing prices for bitcoin 1.49% higher to more than $52,680.
