Despite a campaign encouraging people around the world to buy $30 of Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency's price has fallen.
El Salvador has officially become the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.
Bitcoin’s price initially reacted warmly to the milestone in the early hours of Tuesday — hitting $52,853.76 — but CoinMarketCap data shows it later fell as low as $50,689.41.
A campaign on Twitter has been encouraging people around the world to buy $30 in BTC to celebrate El Salvador’s move. That figure has significance because this is the crypto reward Salvadorans receive if they download the government’s official crypto wallet.
Some have expressed concern that any attempt to inflate Bitcoin’s value could make it more expensive for Salvadorans who are buying the cryptocurrency for the first time.
Although BTC’s elevation to legal tender has caused a lot of excitement in the crypto community, the controversial law has sparked protests in the country’s capital.
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A Bumpy Start
It was inevitable that there would be some teething troubles as El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law came into force.
President Nayib Bukele confirmed that the government’s official Chivo wallet had to be briefly disconnected because of server capacity issues.
Yesterday, El Salvador also confirmed that it had purchased 200 BTC — taking the total amount of crypto it holds in reserve to 400 BTC. This is in addition to a $150 million fund that will be used to ensure Bitcoin can be converted into U.S. dollars with ease.
As Bitcoin Day commenced, a number of crypto influencers were feeling exceedingly bullish. Blockstream’s chief strategy officer Samson Mow said:
“Bitcoin is now legal tender in El Salvador. Soon more countries will follow. There is no going back. You cannot put the genie back in the bottle.”
Daniel Hercules, a taxi driver in the country, told the BBC that only about 10% of his customers have been using Bitcoin as present.
He intends to save his crypto rather than spend it, but said he is worried about its value falling:
"It is one of the things that worries me the most. Losing money from long days of work would not be OK."
