Problems accessing the wallet, withdrawing
money from ATMs, and data verification, as well as the government not
depositing the $30 bonus Bukele promised all Chivo users were the most frequent
issues, according to interviews with at least 10 users and user complaints
posted on Twitter and Facebook.
Melvin Vasquez, a 30-year-old tattoo artist,
downloaded Chivo on Tuesday, when the bitcoin law went into effect, but has
since been unable to use it.
"I want to see if I can buy something,
but it won't even let me enter," Vasquez lamented, after trying to buy
pizza at a restaurant on the outskirts of San Salvador. "They should have
prepared more... It is not so convenient."
User complaints were also stacking up in
Apple's App Store and Alphabet's Google Play.
"I downloaded it and entered all my data.
Now when I want to log in again, it doesn't let me and it doesn't recognize my
pin or face ID. I don't have other options. Truthfully, a really bad
app!," said one user.
Bukele stepped in on Wednesday to manage the fraught
roll-out of the payments app that underpins El Salvador's adoption of bitcoin
as legal tender. Chivo, which promises commission-free transactions and his
administration hopes will be adopted by the unbanked, has been disconnected
several times to repair the glitches.
Bukele's administration is aiming for 2.5
million Salvadorans, some 39% of the population, to download Chivo, named after
a local word for 'good.' He has argued that bitcoin would allow Salvadorans to
save on $400 million each year in commissions for remittances.
But many of the very people sending or
receiving dollars to El Salvador are mistrustful of bitcoin. Some expressed
fears of losing money, given the high volatility of the cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin has experienced daily trading moves of
10 percent or more 10 times this year, as it did both in 2020 and 2019,
according to Refinitiv data. In 2018 and 2017, there were 17 days each year of
10 percent moves or more.
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