Salvadorians don’t want Bitcoin? Controversial survey says so

[ad_1]

Salvadoran Bitcoin law will come into effect on September 7, 2021. As the country fully embraces BTC as legal tender, opposition from critics, international financial entities and others increases.

A recently published survey, conducted by the University Institute of Public Opinion (IudopUCA), claims that 7 in 10 Salvadorans believe the Bitcoin law should be repealed.

Additionally, the study concluded that 9 out of 10 Salvadorans have an incorrect idea or don’t know what Bitcoin is.

The survey was conducted from August 13 to 20, 2021. The IudopUCA claims to have a national scope, researchers from this institution physically visited the homes of the participants. At the end of these visits, they were able to obtain 1,281 valid results.

When asked what Bitcoin is, 44% of those surveyed said it was a digital currency and 20.6% said they didn’t know. Other participants said that BTC is cryptocurrency, new currency, money, etc.

These results seem contradictory with the conclusion of the survey: most inhabitants of El Salvador do not know what Bitcoin is while almost 50% of those questioned declared either a cryptocurrency or a digital currency.

However, the institution behind the survey considers these respondents to be wrong because BTC is not a currency, nor money, but a financial asset. So, how did they come to this conclusion.

At the same time, the results of the investigation called into question the main reason why a Bitcoin law was introduced. According to their results, only 2.8% of respondents have a good economic situation thanks to remittances, 51% said that their economic situation is related to local jobs.

There is palpable concern about inflation, poll results show, on the part of Salvadorans. The introduction of BTC as legal tender, contrary to the perception of the crypto community, only increases economic concerns, at least for some of the respondents.

4 in 10 Salvadorans believe the economy will get worse with Bitcoin. 7 in 10 participants (65.2%) disagree with the measure of spending public money to launch BTC in the country, and 55.5% said they have no faith in crypto cash.

In addition, 54.3% of respondents believe that BTC will bring inflation to their country, as shown below.

4 in 10 Salvadorans believe Bitcoin will make their economy worse. Source: IudopUCABitcoin Is the money in El Salvador?

Ironically, Bitcoin in El Salvador mainly works through the second layer solution Lightning Network which enables fast payments. As such, many traders across the country can accept BTC primarily in its smaller denomination, Satoshi.

Castle Island Ventures General Partner Nic Carter explored how Bitcoin works like silver, unlike gold, due to its characteristics. In an article on Medium, Carter said:

() there is no distinction between bitcoin in its raw and elemental form and bitcoin in its ready-for-money form. The two are one and the same. Thus, we solve the puzzle of bitcoin as a gold-like currency. Bitcoin is natively standardized.

Alex Gladstein, director of strategy for the Human Rights Foundation, tested the effectiveness of Bitcoin in El Salvador as a medium of exchange for remittances and commerce. Gladstein visited the country, testing the implementation of the Lightning Network through Strike, the Bitcoin-based company run by Jack Mallers.

According to Gladstein, his experience with cryptocurrency has been flawless.

Flawless experience using @MuunWallet here in El Zonte to buy all kinds of things with Bitcoin

If you are visiting, be sure to stop for coffee with Karla, an excellent barista.

You can tip her instantly from anywhere in the world with Lightning here: https://t.co/qFWYI0bt4e pic.twitter.com/ruyBLWrRy7

– Alex Gladstein (@gladstein) September 2, 2021

The IudopUCA investigation has been heavily criticized by a sector of the crypto community. With so few days to implement the BTC law, only time will tell if Salvadorans’ concerns were unfounded or correct.

At the time of writing this article, Bitcoin is trading at $ 49,616 with a loss of 1.8% on the daily chart.

BTC with minor losses after a strong rally in the daily chart. Source: BTCUSD Tradingview

[ad_2]