El Salvador Launches a New Bitcoin Initiative

The government of El Salvador has launched a Bitcoin and Lightning Network course supported by the Salvadoran University.

The program will start in May 2023 and will be attended by a small group of students, and it is funded by the VC firm Fulgur and the stablecoin issuer Tether. The CUBO+ program is an advanced Bitcoin engineering program that will last several months and will offer credit and potential placement for those who qualify for the first Plan B scholarship.

Specifically, the training program will be conducted online and will last for two months, followed by an in-person boot camp for students who complete the course. After the bootcamp, the following months will focus on mentoring programs with well-known personalities in Bitcoin.

El Salvador was the first country to officially accept Bitcoin as legal tender in September 2021, followed by the Central African Republic a few months later.

El Salvador’s Bitcoin Adoption and Public Reception

According to thecoinrepublic.com, El Salvador bought 2,546 BTC in an effort to make it easier for foreigners to send remittances to relatives, among other benefits. At the time, the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, claimed that $400 million would be saved in remittance commissions annually.

According to dailycoin.com, José Simeón Cañas Central American University in El Salvador published in October 2022 a report on its investigation into the use of Bitcoin in the country. The study assessed the perceptions of local residents of El Salvador regarding Legislative Decree No. 57, which approved Bitcoin as legal tender.

The survey revealed that 77.1% of respondents want the Salvadoran government to stop “spending public money on Bitcoin.” According to the study, only 24.4% of respondents have used cryptocurrency as a payment tool since it was legally adopted. Furthermore, 95% of survey respondents confirmed that their quality of life has remained the same or has worsened since the government approved Bitcoin as legal tender.

It’s not all bad news, however, as a report by the El Salvador Reserve Bank found that Salvadorans living abroad sent more than US$50 million in remittances from January to May 2022. Additionally, a 400% increase in Lightning Network- transactions, which can be attributed to the adoption of Bitcoin. It is also worth noting that Bitcoin adoption has led to an increase in tourism and foreign investment in the country.

According to forbesindia.com, tourism has improved significantly in the country with 1.1 million tourists recorded in 2022.