BITCOIN implementation in El Salvador

Abstract

September 7, 2021 in El Salvador adopted the BITCOIN is cryptocurrency as legal tender in order to facilitate financial inclusion and boost economic growth, so this article seeks to analyze the use of BITCOIN in micro and small enterprises in the development of their business transactions before the establishment of this currency. For this purpose, a qualitative study is conducted through surveys to 133 companies defined in a non-probabilistic sampling by convenience, in order to obtain information about the use of BITCOIN in its implementation as legal tender to identify the positioning of companies with this strategy. In the surveyed

companies, the low level of acceptance in the use of BITCOIN, to charge or pay in the conduct of their business operations is determined and those entrepreneurs who accepted it retained it in the Goat wallet issued in the Government in Dollars. Most businesses state that they have not perceived a benefit as an effect of the implementation of BITCOIN. BITCOIN as legal tender was established in El Salvador as a measure of financial inclusion, where 40.00% of people have access to a bank account, but the lack of knowledge of how cryptocurrencies work has led to a lack of acceptance of their use, which presents a training challenge. Financial inclusion should not be disconnected from financial literacy mechanisms in order to meet its objectives of use, access, quality and wellbeing, where showing vulnerable populations the benefits and risks of different products, including cryptocurrencies, becomes relevant for their implementation.