Bitcoin Remittances Fall Short in El Salvador

Five years after El Salvador's Bitcoin Law was passed, digital currencies have yet to gain significant traction in the country's remittance market. Despite early predictions that pivoting to crypto could save Salvadorans $400 million each year in transaction and middlemen fees, only 0.7% of the total volume of external remittances sent to El Salvador during the first half of 2026 used digital currency channels.

The Central Bank of El Salvador reported that the figure represents less than 1% of all funds sent to the country in 2026, which reached over $5 billion. In comparison, cash remittances rose to 3.8%, while crypto remittance numbers are significantly higher than those reached during H1 2025, when these registered $25.4 million in volumes, a rise of 39.1%.

Remittance companies and banks remain the preferred channels for Salvadorans to send money home, intermediating over 84% of the volume received from abroad. Since El Salvador passed the Bitcoin law in 2021, crypto remittances have failed to gain traction, with Salvadorans abroad still relying on traditional remittance channels to send money.