El Salvador introduces $ 0.20 per gallon fuel subsidy to locals who pay in BTC



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Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele announced that local consumers can take advantage of a reduction of $ 0.20 per gallon on gasoline prices when they pay using the government-backed Bitcoin wallet, Chivo.

Describing the news as “positive news for the pockets of Salvadorans,” the president announced the grant via Twitter on September 30. According to a rough translation, Bukele declared:

“The state-owned Chivo has negotiated with the largest gas station companies in our country, so that starting tomorrow, their stations will sell every gallon of fuel $ 0.20 cheaper, with the Chivo wallet.”

Bukele stressed that there is no limit to the discount and that any local person or business can access the discount. He added that the rebate would erase “several increases in the international price of fuels” and “reduce transport costs in supply chains.”

However, some Salvadorans do not seem convinced that the grant will ultimately benefit the public, with Twitter user Adan_3840 to respond:

“Those 20 cents will come from all of us, won’t they?” The gas station does not lose, there is the refund after paying with taxes even from those who walk on foot.

Others were cynical about the government’s decision to offer the discount only to those who pay with Chivo, with another Twitter account examination why the administration did not decide to offer fuel price relief sooner.

Along with the information, Bukele also revealed that he had authorized a fund intended to “stabilize” the domestic price of liquefied gas. The president said that if the international market had forecast a $ 1.17 increase in the price of 25-pound bottles of liquefied gas, Salvadorans would experience “a slight reduction” in costs.

He added that the government will absorb the increase for only one year, noting that any reduction in global gas prices will also be passed on to consumers during the period.

Related: President of El Salvador teases Bitcoin’s geothermal mining farm

El Salvador became the first country to legally recognize Bitcoin as legal tender on September 7. Later that month, Bukele claimed that a third of Salvadorans were already using Chivo within three weeks of its launch.

However, onlookers expressed skepticism about Bukele’s reports of the growing adoption of crypto, with crypto critic and author David Gerard saying Salvadoran officials are “feeding Bukele numbers that he likes” that “s” collapse at the slightest examination ”.

In his 50ft blockchain attack newsletter, Gerard analyzed the Chivo usage metrics reported by Bukele to conclude that the government-backed wallet would “complete more transactions per day than Visa globally” if the president’s data was correct.