El Salvador has become the first country to legalize bitcoin as a form of payment. El Salvador's government has launched its bitcoin wallet, Chivo, three months after declaring plans. El Salvador is giving out $30 worth of bitcoin to adult people who download Chivo and register their wallets to encourage them to do so.

While some Twitter users have praised the program for working as planned, such as bitcoin payments at Starbucks and McDonald's, many others have complained about technical difficulties. El Salvador's President stated through Twitter that Chivo's issues prompted a reboot to improve user experience and server capacity. Many of the bugs have been fixed, but not all of them.

The launch in El Salvador is a significant step forward in the adoption of bitcoin in underdeveloped countries. According to CNBC, Chivo's launch in El Salvador might cost Western Union $400 million each year, significantly influencing the remittances business.

Other governments are trying to follow El Salvador's lead and use bitcoin to bypass the established financial services business. Ukraine, for example, passed a bill legalizing cryptocurrencies this week, and Panama introduced legislation to make bitcoin legal cash. As ARK has previously stated, bitcoin is spurring currency demonetization in emerging nations and has the potential to scale as its infrastructure matures.