Crypto
Bukele Abandons Bitcoin for Stablecoins in El Salvador
El Salvador's President Nayib Bukele is shifting his focus from Bitcoin to stablecoins, just five years after making it the first country to adopt the cryptocurrency as a form of payment.
The move comes with the launch of an app called 'Sivar', which allows users to send and receive stablecoins using the Coinbase Base network. The app requires users to identify themselves with government-issued documents and can also be used for voting in local elections, even by Salvadorans living abroad.
The key feature of Sivar is its ability to facilitate remittances from the United States, with a fixed fee of $2 per transfer, eliminating percentage-based fees. El Salvador received over $10 billion in remittances in 2025, with 92% coming from the US.