El Salvador BTC project from a Salvadoran： The Inside Story of How El Salvador’s Official Crypto Wallet Crashed and Failed

These days I got many messages asking about Chivo Wallet, today I found an article explaining what happened and what make Chivo Wallet not successful. I found an article in English that is from one of the most prestigious digital newspaper in whole Central America.

The article is long, I am leaving here some bullet point, still I suggest you to read the whole article if it is possible:

1. Chivo Wallet was a state-created bitcoin wallet released by the government of El Salvador on Sep. 7, 2021.
2. Shaun Overton, a 40-year-old software developer from Texas involvement was to rescue the Chivo Wallet project, which faced numerous issues and glitches after its launch.
3. The chaos surrounding Chivo Wallet is detailed in a deposition Overton gave in a lawsuit filed by his company, Accruvia, against Athena Bitcoin, the main developer of the wallet.
4. Chivo Wallet was a cornerstone of President Nayib Bukele's crypto project, aiming to facilitate bitcoin adoption and financial inclusion.
5. The wallet launch was marred by glitches and technical problems, causing widespread complaints from users.
6. Identity theft and fraudulent registrations plagued Chivo Wallet, with an estimated 10-20% of registered users being fraudulent.
7. Chivo Wallet's rushed launch led to a lack of proper testing, and KYC compliance was turned off to achieve initial user numbers.
8. Despite its promise to revolutionize remittances, Chivo Wallet's actual impact on remittances remained limited, with a decline in usage over time.
9. The government used Chivo Wallet to negotiate remittance fees with Western Union.

Reading:10 minutes

Article Link: The Inside Story of How El Salvador Official Crypto Wallet Crashed and Failed