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RE: 1 year after Bitcoin became legal tender in El Salvador: Failure or Success?

in LeoFinance2 years ago

Don't forget the other big win - the cost of remittances. The World Bank quotes 24.09% of El Salvador's GDP in 2020 was in the form of remittances from ex-pat workers. It's significantly cheaper to send remittances by Bitcoin compared to traditional money transfer companies.

If all of the remittances were to be sent by Bitcoin, it is estimated Western Union would lose $400m a year, although so far only a small (but growing) percentage of them are sent that way. But that's potentially $400m a year that could be put into the economy, and straight into the hands of hard-working families rather than corporations or a central bank.

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Such a great take! I truly hate cash remittances businesses… More like racket to me.
Do we have any idea of the volume of such transfers done in Bitcoin from abroad to El Salvador?

Posted using LeoFinance Mobile

Up-to-date figures are hard to come by, but the Central Bank of El Salvador gave a figure for September 21 to April 22 of $96.3 million. Still a small percentage of the $5 billion plus annual remittances, but it's a good start.