San Salvador: Hardly anyone used bitcoin last year in El Salvador, the first country anywhere to make the cryptocurrency a form of legal tender, says a poll released Wednesday.

       The government of President Nayib Bukele took the pioneering step in 2021, introducing bitcoin in circulation alongside the US dollar, which replaced the Salvadoran colon in 2001.

       The goal was to make remittances – they account for a quarter of gross domestic product in the country – cheaper to send and to get Salvadorans to open bank accounts, which 70% of the population lacked.

       However, a poll by Central American University found that 85% of people questioned did not use bitcoin to pay for a good or service last year, and 3% have never ever used the currency.

       The poll was carried out from Dec 9 to Dec 22 among 1,280 people and had a margin of error of 2.7%. — AFP