It has been three months since El Salvador approved Bitcoin as its legal tender. Since then, all Bitcoin transactions are conducted through the Government's Official Wallet, popularly known as 'Chivo wallet'. At first, everything seemed good, but lately, there have been concerns about critical issues facing the digital wallet .
Hundreds of Salvadorians have started complaining on social media about their Bitcoin mysteriously disappearing from their Chivo wallet. A Twitter user called 'El Comisionado' collected several tweets about the matter on December 18. The users complained that various amounts of Bitcoin ranging from $100 to $16,000 have gone missing from their Chivo wallets. The mysterious disappearance of funds happened without users authorizing the transactions. El Comisionado's thread highlighted about 50 tweets complaining of a total of $96,223.83 of Bitcoin that went missing from the users’ digital wallets.
Several tweets collected by El Comisionado include screenshots showing unauthorized transactions from the affected Chivo wallets. A user, who said to have lost $16,000 in Bitcoin, complained about the inability of El Salvador’s government to investigate the missing funds. He threatened to go to the media if the government does not unearth the root cause of the problem.
Tom's Hardware, an online publication that helps consumers to buy the best hardware and build the best PC, contacted El Salvador’s government officials in charge of the Ministry of Justice and Public Security for comment about the complaints but have not received a response.
Chivo Wallet Affected Technical Challenges
The development by the Salvadorans reporting about their Bitcoin mysteriously disappearing is a huge disappointment facing the Chivo wallet. It is a setback that discourages citizens from using the app promoted by President Nayib Bukele. Problems accessing wallets, verifying data, withdrawing funds from ATMs and the government not depositing the $30 bonus that Bukele promised all Chivo users are major challenges with frequent complaints. Issues about bugs and technical discrepancies in the Chivo wallet have also been reported. All these show that the digital wallet may not be secure, which as a result is affecting its mainstream adoption. In the past, users have complained about the issue of identity fraud. In October, hundreds of local citizens complained that hackers opened Chivo Wallets using their ID numbers to claim the $30 bitcoin incentive being offered to people who register on the app. With Bitcoin adoption, President Bukele positioned his Central American country at the center of a global innovation about the future of money, but the process is not without its challenges and critics.
