THELOGICALINDIAN - On Tuesday Bitcoincom News batten with Marc Falzon an alone who has been documenting the bitcoin rollout in El Salvador back the law was implemented on September 7 Falzon says that there are a cardinal of issues that no one is talking about in attention to the bitcoin law and the Chivo wallet a governmentcrafted bitcoin wallet One specific affair is the actuality that Chivo wallet users cannot absorb beneath than 5 back application the app
Marc Falzon: Reporting on the Bitcoin Situation in El Salvador from the Ground
On September 7, 2021, El Salvador implemented the bitcoin breakable law and now both bitcoin (BTC) and the U.S. dollar are acknowledged currencies in the country. There’s been a lot of altercation surrounding the rollout and one survey shows that a majority of Salvadorans were not agreeable with the new law. There was alike a street protest and Salvadoran citizens took to the streets to article adjoin the new law. Marc Falzon recorded a beef on his bombinate and back he uploaded the recording to amusing media, a bitcoin influencer from El Salvador reposted the video and said it was misinformation.
Interestingly, back Bitcoin.com Account appear the column apropos the protest, commenters said the aforementioned thing. Our account board was told that the beef was a baby scattering of bodies that did not bulk to annihilation relevant. Falzon said that he additionally uploaded some of his allegation to the Reddit appointment r/bitcoin and the column was flagged. Subsequently, Falzon was additionally banned from r/bitcoin, although he managed to get reinstated. The r/bitcoin mods complained that the column was “misleading” and Falzon has been accepting a lot of abuse for his reporting.
Falzon’s reporting has been accepting a lot of absorption and his videos accept been accepting abuse from alleged bitcoin influencers. Local media has covered Falzon’s allegation and his point of appearance has been aggregate beyond assorted amusing media channels. Despite the criticism from some crypto supporters, there are those that accept his advertisement has been 100% cold and on point.
Chivo Wallet Does Not Process Transactions $5 and Under, Bitcoin Influencers Create False Narrative
Speaking with Falzon on Tuesday, he explained that the bearings is so bad it could leave a bad aftertaste in Salvadorans in attention to cryptocurrencies in general. While some bodies accept that admitting the antecedent problems and banishment the bill on Salvadorans, the end aftereffect will aftermath a argent lining, Falzon is not so sure. At the moment the issues are not acceptable for bodies who appetite to advantage microtransactions beneath $5 and his testing shows the Lightning Network affection on the Chivo wallet is accident transactions.
Misinformation, Falzon says, is stemming from the accepted bitcoin influencers who are painting a bright and bogus anecdotal of how things accept been going. There accept been problems and influencers are acting as admitting aggregate works abundant while affairs items from chains like McDonald’s and Starbucks. Bitcoin.com News asked Falzon about the issues with microtransactions, as spending baby increments of money is all-important to buy aliment and things like coffee.
“Right now in El Salvador any transaction (using the Chivo wallet) beneath the bulk of bristles U.S. dollars is actuality blocked,” Falzon told Bitcoin.com News. “There was never any acknowledgment of that back the [bitcoin tender] act came out. In fact, they said in the bartering announcement Chivo wallet, to the citizenry here, that bodies would be able to buy everything. But during the antecedent launch, bodies are not able to accomplish any microtransactions.” Falzon added:
Lightning Network Transactions Lost, Businesses Worried
When asked if this was the case for both onchain bitcoin (BTC) affairs and the Lighting Network, Marc said: “Excellent catechism and that’s aloof article we don’t accept an acknowledgment to appropriate now.” Bitcoin.com News again asked if Lighting Network affairs were accessible at all.
“That’s a complicated catechism and let me explain why. So in theory, yes, you can use Lightning for amounts over $5,” Falzon remarked. “However, in my testing, Lightning Network affairs at this time are actuality lost. To accord you a specific example, in one of my videos I accept a acquaintance who is a bounded actuality accelerate me $10 via Lightning Network to my wallet. That transaction was six canicule ago, that money still has not accustomed in my wallet. Now what makes this alarming is that the money has been deducted from my friend’s balance. So in his app, it shows he beatific the money.”
“To accomplish affairs alike worse, in the Chivo wallet app there’s no way to see any advice about the transaction,” Falzon continued. “One of the absolutely big problems is that it’s not affecting me but that it’s affecting supermarkets and restaurants. To accord you a specific archetype there’s a bloom aliment bazaar abreast me and the buyer is accompany with all the owners of added supermarkets. She said that the added markets are afraid because they acquire affairs beatific in that are not assuming up. So do you aloof let the chump aloof airing out of the store? By law, they charge to acquire the bitcoin transaction.”
Bitcoin Acceptance by Salvadoran Merchants Is Not Optional Unless They Don’t Have Technical Infrastructure
On August 24, Bitcoin.com News appear on the Salvadoran admiral Nayib Bukele promising that the bitcoin law would not be affected on citizens. Falzon says in some ways, Bukele’s statements are actual but in added instances, it is not true. “The admiral has said that bitcoin actuality in El Salvador was alternative and that the Chivo app is additionally optional,” Falzon relayed. “However, that is absolutely not true. The admiral is actual that individuals can accept not to use the Chivo app. Like back they buy things they can use cash. They don’t accept to use the Chivo app to use Lightning.” Falzon added added:
“The way that the law is written, commodity seven says that all merchants charge acquire bitcoin by law, with the blackmail of force, you charge do it,” Falzon emphasized in his statements on the phone. “However, commodity twelve in the law, says that merchants who are not currently able to be able as far as technology to acquire the acquittal will not acquire to acquire bitcoin until they acquire been appropriately equipped. About half the residents in El Salvador do not acquire an internet connection. For these people, from what I understand, they will not acquire issues with the government if they don’t acquire it. Unless they are able to acquire it.”
Although Falzon said that some baby businesses do acquire the adequacy to add the technology and they would be affected to acquire bitcoin. “Some baby business owners do acquire the technology, they do acquire adaptable phones,” Falzon stressed. “These business owners would no best abatement beneath commodity twelve. Commodity twelve doesn’t beggarly you acquire a best not to acquire it, it agency that you acquire a little added time afore you acquire to. If you acquire the technology again you abatement beneath commodity seven.” The cryptocurrency apostle continued:
Bitcoin Law Is ‘Encouraging Traditional Centralized Banking as It Has Always Been’
What’s alike worse is that Falzon says abounding merchants are axis to an appliance crafted by the better coffer in El Salvador alleged Banco Agrícola. Instead of announcement a peer-to-peer cyberbanking banknote system, these Salvadoran merchants are administration bitcoin briefly as they about anon get a authorization backup for the bitcoin they accept.
“The sad allotment about this is that the supermarkets and the business owners are accepting an app alleged Wompi,” Falzon concluded. “What the Wompi app does is that it lets merchants acquire bitcoin and it anon converts it into USD and puts it in the merchant’s coffer account. As if I paid in fiat. Businesses are application this app, to get about commodity seven,” Falzon highlighted. His allegation appearance that the aged and centralized arrangement of the accomplished still charcoal absolutely functional.
“What’s sad is that the Wompi app is fabricated by the better cyberbanking institution, Banco Agrícola S.A. (Banco Agrícola),” Falzon said. “Banco Agrícola developed the app. So basically, the bearings that we accept bottomward actuality is [bitcoin is] not alone not actuality acclimated as a bill but it’s auspicious acceptable centralized cyberbanking as it has consistently been.”
What do you anticipate about Marc Falzon’s allegation and the bearings in El Salvador? Do you accede with his appraisal of the situation? Let us apperceive what you anticipate about this accountable in the comments area below.
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