Bitcoin brings hopes, doubts for Salvadorans sending money

MIAMI (AP) — El Salvador is betting that this week's pioneering adoption of Bitcoin will spur its economy, especially one of its most crucial sources of revenue: money sent home by Salvadorans in the United States.

A fervent proponent of the cryptocurrency, President Nayib Bukele has asked the more than 2 million Salvadorans who live overseas to send their remittances in Bitcoin, arguing it will be cheaper than transferring dollars. He also says it will stimulate foreign investment.

“It will be a great benefit for our people,” he has written in Twitter.

But both those at home and abroad are uncertain if the plan, which takes effect Tuesday, will work as intended. Some say the system is too complicated and opaque. Others worry about the way Bitcoin values can rise and fall sharply overnight — potentially giving recipients a windfall or a loss.

Looking on the bright side is William Justo, a 44-year-old Salvadoran who has lived in Chicago since 1986.

“Digital currency offers the opportunity of having access to something similar to a bank and making money when the currency goes up. Even farmers will have access to all of that,” said Justo, who sends remittances every week to two children, his wife and grandmother.

“It will be something very good for the economy,” said Justo, who says he may send bitcoins now instead of dollars.

Arnolfo Diaz, in Maryland, thinks differently.

“Old people and farmers, which are many of the Salvadorans who live here (in the United States), are not up with technological change,” said the 58-year-old. “It's going to be confusing, complex for them”.

Bitcoin, an alternative to government-backed money, exists only in computer circuits and memory. It's based on data-scrambling cryptography — thus the term “cryptocurrency” — lots of processing...