While El Salvador was one of the first countries that opened its doors to bitcoin and cryptocurrency services, the interest in these solutions has been lukewarm at best. Local reports have remarked on the little relevance that these solutions have had for the average Salvadoran, and now, numbers reveal the poor growth of the cryptocurrency industry in the country.

According to numbers from the Central Reserve Bank, only 20 bitcoin service providers (BSPs) are currently operating in the country. This number includes Chivo, the national cryptocurrency wallet that is destined to be disbanded as collateral to the agreement that the government inked with the International Money Fund (IMF).

While 181 institutions applied to become providers in the country, 161 are still registered as “not operating,” hinting at a high initial appeal in entering El Salvador followed by a period of lack of interest and apathy.

22 of the registered but inactive providers have failed to comply with the requirements established in the fourth article of the ruleset of the so-called bitcoin law.

The article states that “each BSP shall conduct its operations with high standards of integrity and honesty in compliance with this regulation and all other applicable laws and regulations.”

While the country has scored some relevant macro wins, including the relocation of stablecoin behemoth Tether to the country, Bukele himself has acknowledged that the adoption of bitcoin by Salvadorans has not been what his administration expected.

Crypto remittances, one of the key use cases that the government pushed for bitcoin, have failed to pick up momentum as less than 1% of the funds sent use crypto rails.

Read more: Crypto Remittances Fail to Gain Momentum in El Salvador

In August, Bukele noted that Bitcoin had served as an effective rebranding tool for the country at an international level. “It gave us branding, it brought us investments, it brought us tourism,” he assessed.

Read more: Bukele States Bitcoin Was an Effective Rebranding Tool for El Salvador

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