Topic: Has anyone here ever visited El Salvador and tried paying with bitcoin there? (Read 456 times)

I didn't expect this topic to have so many responses. And some of the responses already contain the answers I expected. Be it several links to someone's experiences and also several sources from someone's experiences uploaded to YouTube.

And it seems like some of the answers also opened up my thinking that if someone wants to experience using bitcoin as a legal tender. So maybe we can also not have to go all the way to El Salvador. because it may also be available in countries closer to ours. For example, I also found that paying for Taxi Grab in Singapore can also use bitcoin based on sources I read from Instagram.
(instagram)

Since I have found the answer I was hoping for so I will close this topic. Thank you everyone for sharing your views here. All your answers are very valuable. Some of them have even opened my thinking to be more open.  

Right now, I still have no plans to spend my earned bitcoin since I’m still in the process of accumulation stage, so I have no plans also to explore El Salvador as I’ll only be tempted to spend some of my hard-earned bitcoin. But maybe probably in the future, I will as I also include El Salvador in my bucket list so I can exactly tell how bitcoin adoption went there. And maybe by that time, the crime rate would also lessen as well, unlike now that it’s still somehow not totally safe at all.

The people of El Salvador do not spend or use BTC the way you think they do, yeah the BTC project was introduced by Nayib Bukele, and many people probably downloaded the Chivo wallet because of the $30 bonus, but the majority of the population do not understand what BTC is, neither do they use it. I am not going to travel to El Salvador to spend BTC, i can do that online or in some places in my country. Take note that BTC does not have to be a legal tender in a country before you can spend it there.

I've never been to El Salvador and I think going there would be a waste of money just because I want to know how to pay using Bitcoin there and I think it's better to buy or collect more Bitcoin, and even though El Salvador was the first country to legalize Bitcoin , it's not like I have to go there to find out the situation.
And regarding the issue of Bitcoin as a transaction tool, in my opinion it is the same, there is no difference and it is the same as in our country if there are traders or shops that use Bitcoin payments. And maybe the only difference is that it's legal and Bitcoin can be used freely for any transaction just like fiat, and I think we'll experience that too and it's just a matter of time.

Even though I've never been to El Salvador, that doesn't mean there aren't ways to learn more. You can check out some reliable resources that can give us a comprehensive understanding of the country's Bitcoin status. These can be articles from internationally recognized news agencies, surveys by financial institutions or even interviews with people conducted live over the internet.

I wouldn't go there even if someone wanted to pay for my entire trip. No one wants to risk their life when going to one of the countries with the highest violent crime rates in the world.

No mate, haven't been there but even I am curious to know how does things work there and I am curious to know how does they cope up wo transaction fees associated with it or they use it only for higher transactions. There are some stores which accepts Bitcoin as shared in this thread but using Bitcoin in a nation where it's legalised would be a different experience all together.

Anyone from El Salvador please share your experience

when first released in summer 2021 chivo used LN as the backnone.. where citizens had 'inbound balance from 'strike' .. and within 3 months it failed due to LN issues of strike
alot of citizens and merchants stopped using chivo and its inbound balance model.
basically citizens did not have their own self custody. they had $30 value of inbound balance from a LN institution.. were the LN institution had the actual custody in partnership with the governments coin hoard

chivo(el salv government) then moved to using Alphapoint as a custodian as a CEX backbone from january-ish of 2022 (second attempt).. instead of LN institution(that failed el salv)

the issue is that due to the debacle of the autumn 2021 bottlenecks and problems due to the stuff i said about the first attempt.. alot of el salv citizens and merchants still avoided using chivo and still blamed first attempt issue on bitcoin even though it was LN to blame.. now they just use alphapoint(as a cex) for remittance without the chivo part due to the bad taste left in their mouth due to the to 2021 experience(chivo-LN first attempt)

alphapoint (and its CEX accounts) are growing due to remittances.. but the chivo wallet part of domestic payments is still not as successful due to that first attempt failure due to LN

---

i personally was going to go to el salv.. but from testimonials i got and even the "2 months living in el salv" video shows trying to get a merchant to accept bitcoin direct is a headache, trying to lock in bitcoin to then use chivo to then ask merchants of they accept chivo is a headache. and using a ATM is usually just to convert crypto to fiat.. but even that is requiring face recognition and ID and a 30minute processing to get a sms alert when its then ok to cash out crypto to fiat is a headache.. so still not a ecosystem of just using crypto to buy groceries, pay rent, bills.

ill wait a lil longer for them to work out the kinks, and try to get people to trust a second/third attempt at launching crypto nationally there for every day use

from what i can see alphapoint is becoming the CEX 'bank' and people just use alphapoint to hoard peoples crypto like people use coinbase as a bank for crypto in america. hopefully alphapoint develops better options than the 2021 first attempt. but only time will tell, and in 2024 i dont see testimonials that people can easily use their alphapoint custody funds to do easy headache free person-to person, person-to-business payments.. and its mainly currently just used for US/EU cex-to-elsalv cex for remittances which is the only growth factor measurably

My hands are up 🙌. That's if you're also curious to know who's interested to visit there and have that bitcoin transactions as legal means of payments and not specifically about our holding for investments here.
That'd will be some kind of new phase of life for me because I've always thought about the possibilities of this means of payments and how they can both interact on the P2P during the transaction.
I don't think if there's an existing country with a zero crime rate so just based on the news speculations, El Salvador has be quite a less crime rate country which that doesn't stand a threat for bitcoin holders.
I actually wishes to be there and have that experience of using and asset to pay my bills and how to freely Walk around with everyone suspiciously of having bitcoin without that strange attitude of finding someone holding some strange assets as bitcoin could still be strange to some sorts of societies despites its global spreading.

El Salvador is far from the country I belong to, and what I know is that it was the first country to recognize that Bitcoin was made legal tender in their country, if I'm not mistaken, and most of the communities here on this forum platform also know that too.

Although there are also other places here in our country that have other merchants that accept Bitcoin as one of the payment options in their businesses that they manage, And in El Salvador, it is normal for business establishments to accept Bitcoin as a mode of payment.

Nope, and unlikely I would visit just because to feel experience buying something directly using Bitcoin.

Perhaps when I had an important reason, to evade from tax example.

Pardon me, isn't Chivo a custodial wallet? they don't have to use lightning network because most people don't care about non custodial wallet, so I believe if they own Bitcoin, they will hold it in Chivo. AFAIK Chivo didn't charge any fees if someone send Bitcoin to other Chivo wallet, so why they need to use LN?

I've not traveled to El Salvador and I don't wish to visit anytime soon but if I wanted to travel to a bitcoin friendly nation, El Salvador would be the least of the countries on my list. The difference between El Salvador and other Bitcoin friendly countries is that Bitcoin is recognized as legal tender, aside that the adoption rate is still at infancy. From what I've been reading, a vast majority of the locals still prefer US dollars as a medium of exchange for their businesses.

Should there be a point in visiting a country that uses Bitcoin when I can do same in my country?
El Salvador serves as a great example for countries who consider adopting Bitcoin fully and am sure it would be as beautiful and a great destination of sort.
If and when I do visit there, I would have grown my BTC investments and have a steady expense portfolio dedicated to just the trip and cruise.

Lots of videos uploaded by vloggers about how they used or pay bitcoin on EL Salvador https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YP7EJT1cjAI

You can also see the experience of the merchants in this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7HIbRlhJfSw

We can see that there's positive and negative results happened but hopefully their government will help their citizens to get proper education about bitcoin since they really know to handle well their bitcoin since usually they got afraid for this because they always get afraid when bitcoin price drop they lose their money.

Nice question for bitcointalk member ever visited El Savador and fell how excited when using bitcoin for payment transaction, currently I don't go there but have planning one day later will try using bitcoin as payment transaction. Actually I don't popular with El Savador what are the best place there and how excited for tourism going there exceptional using bitcoin as legal currency transaction. I will make some research on google and looking what is the best and beautiful place there before visiting El Savador and enjoying not only using bitcoin as payment transaction but want to enjoy with beautiful place.

El Savador become more popular country after accepting bitcoin as legal payment transaction, I don't how excited many tourism coming there for enjoying the beautiful place or want to feel excited using bitcoin as payment currency only.

It's a different experience probably if you do it in a country that's legalized bitcoin, you won't be getting the same vibes in Thailand and Indonesia or the Philippines in regards to smoking marijuana (medicinal or recreational) because in Thailand, it's legal there and you're good to use it to some degree but if you do it in Indonesia or the Philippines, that's the same with this one, you don't really feel it if you're alone and the government supports what you're interested in so yeah, maps of stores near you isn't the same experience. I do have the same feels about bitcoin being used as a currency though, although I'm not scared about the risk of crime committed because I use bitcoin, I'm more on the privacy part because the moment that someone knows that I'm invested in bitcoin, I'm definitely going to be pestered by a lot of people because they want to talk nonsense stuff about it, no one wants to learn about bitcoin, they just want to know what you're doing with it, the crimes that ties with bitcoin and other redundant stuff.

Bitcoin in El Salvador is mostly popular with tourists who specifically travel there to try and experience real world adoption. Amongst the general population it has not really caught on. If you meet somebody from El Salvador, the subject of Bitcoin will not come up because there is not much interest there. For the merchants who embraced it and are knowledgable in how Bitcoin works, I am sure they are thriving, but overall, adoption is very slow.

Well, I do not know or have heard of any body or user of this forum who have traveled to El Salvador for whatever reason, but personally myself, I do have plans of traveling to that country someday in the future, it's not particularly about just experiencing the freedom to use bitcoin without attracting legal implications, but to learn more about their bitcoin payment systems, like other sophisticated bitcoin payment systems they must have developed and are currently using right now that is not available any where else in the world.

Being the first country to make bitcoin a legal tender, I trust that they must have come up with new kind of bitcoin payments systems that is not yet available to other nations where bitcoin is yet to become a legal means of transaction, so, if I am visiting El Salvador, this possibly will be my major reason for going there, including other personal reasons as well, which one of those is, to enjoy, and have a feel of the countries atmosphere and so on.

There is no even one from this post that have been in EL Salvador but we all have read so many articles and proofs that this country is the sanctuary of Bitcoin and there are still no other country that offers what El salvador does .

_____________________________________

So the thread seems to be gathering links from internet as no direct testimonial from actual person that have been there.

All of us who are connected with cryptocurrency wish that Bitcoin is legal in their country. Maybe Bitcoin is legal in many countries and Bitcoin is illegal in many countries. Countries where Bitcoin is legal can buy and pay for goods from that country with Bitcoin. However, those whose countries have not yet legalized Bitcoin have not been able to get that taste, that is, they could not purchase any product with Bitcoin and pay for it. For which they have a curiosity in mind that they will travel to El Salvador, the first country in the world to legalize Bitcoin, and buy something from there and give Bitcoin as payment.

Also I have a similar curiosity in my mind as Bitcoin is not legal in our country so if I ever have time or opportunity I will travel to El Salvador, a Latin American country. There is even monitoring of various Bitcoin related activities and purchase of any product that will be paid with Bitcoin (only desired). But I would like to thank the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, for making Bitcoin so popular, because of his tireless efforts, his country has become the first Bitcoin legalization country in the world. If there are such modern and articulate leaders like him in different countries of the world, maybe Bitcoin will be legal in those countries too.

I don’t know for sure, but I’ve read some news about people complaining about the bitcoin issue and majority of these complains where made by the petty traders as well as most of the country’s citizens but I think the decision by their president was a concrete one and I guess the president saw the future and I could only imagine how much the country must have made from the recent bill run as I could remember when they were mocked for buying high and then bitcoin kept dipping but now, I think the reverse is the case and they should be smiling to the bank if the need be.

I haven’t been to El Salvador myself, but I think the bitcoin was imposed on them and it will take much more time for its citizens to adapt fully to it but whatever the case might be, they will still adapt.