Bitcoin Adoption Fades in El Salvador's Bitcoin Beach

A restaurant in El Zonte, El Salvador, known as Bitcoin Beach, reported only one Bitcoin payment during August. This is according to Jon Atack, a Bitcoin Core contributor who has lived in El Salvador since 2022.

The restaurant staff told Atack that Bitcoin payments had become 'practically non-existent' and that almost every customer now paid by card.

This experience is consistent with earlier national surveys showing reduced consumer use of Bitcoin. A Universidad Centroamericana survey found that 8.1% of Salvadorans used Bitcoin to purchase or pay for something during 2024, down from 25.7% in 2021 and 21% in 2022.

The El Salvador government made private-sector Bitcoin acceptance voluntary after revising its Bitcoin Law under IMF commitments. The IMF's approval stated that the reforms made private-sector acceptance voluntary and required taxes to be paid in U.S. dollars.