Real-world adoption is what really matters when it comes to being a successful blockchain project and one project that benefited from a recent uptick in adoption is Algorand (ALGO), a pure proof-of-stake protocol aiming to become the go-to base layer for the global financial industry. Data from Cointelegraph Markets Pro and TradingView shows that since bottoming out at $0.67 on July 20, the price of ALGO has rocketed 268% to a daily high at $2.47 on Sept. 9 as its 24-hour trading volume surged to a record-high $4.83 billion. El Salvador builds on Algorand The sudden surge in price and …

Bancoagrícola, El Salvador’s largest financial institution, is set to boost the country’s Bitcoin adoption policy following its partnership with digital payments gateway Flexa. According to an announcement by Flexa on Thursday, Bancoagrícola has inked a deal with the crypto payment network to enable Bitcoin (BTC) transfers for the bank’s customers, including retail and merchant clients. As part of the partnership, Bancoagrícola customers can make credit card payments denominated in United States dollars via Flexa or other Lightning Network-enabled wallets like Chivo and Éclair. According to the release, these payments will not attract any additional fees and will cover loans and …

El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender has been widely celebrated across the crypto ecosystem, but one expert believes the importance of the rollout was a little bit exaggerated. Speaking to CNBC, Fidelity Investments director Jurrien Timmer said that the significance of El Salvador’s Bitcoin move is “a little bit overplayed.” “Because it’s not like El Salvador has dropped the U.S. dollar as its peg,” Timmer explained. “It’s not like it switched from dollars as its currency peg to Bitcoin.” Reminding that the country still has the United States dollar and people can decide to be paid in …

El Salvador’s Bitcoin (BTC) adoption drive met its first roadblock after citizens reported problems downloading and operating the state-run Chivo wallet. While the wallet was taken down soon after it went live, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele later announced that all the issues related to the BTC wallet have been fixed. He tweeted: “We have finished today’s maintenance of Chivo wallet. Report any malfunction here, in the comments.” Soon after El Salvador’s implementation of the Bitcoin Law, Chivo wallet was reportedly launched on major app stores, including Google Play, Huawei AppGallery and Apple App Store. After numerous user reports of system …

Following El Salvador’s historic adoption of Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender on Tuesday, Cardano founder Charles Hoskinson predicted that a lot more countries will eventually follow in the Latin American nation’s footsteps. El Salvador’s Bitcoin acceptance further legitimizes the belief that people should be in control of their money, Hoskinson said in his “Congratulations Bitcoin” YouTube video on Tuesday. The Cardano founder expressed confidence that cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are the future of money as the younger generation will inevitably trigger mass adoption of crypto. “The majority of people under the age of 25 have a positive view on cryptocurrencies, and …

In an interview with local media, Javier Argueta, the legal counsel to the Presidential House of El Salvador, clarified the obligations of businesses the day before the country’s controversial Bitcoin Law recognizing Bitcoin as legal tender took effect. The legal counsel to the president of El Salvador has stated that businesses are mandated to accept Bitcoin (BTC) from customers — but they are able to choose whether or not they will receive BTC or United States dollars once the transaction is settled. According to a rough translation, Argueta emphasized that it is mandatory for businesses “to have the electronic wallet” …

El Salvador’s recognition of Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender has opened up new payment options for its citizens, with fast-food empire McDonald’s reportedly accepting payments in the cryptocurrency through Lightning Network. Journalist Aaron van Wirdum broke the news Tuesday after he visited a McDonald’s restaurant in El Salvador, where he was presented with a printed QR code directing him to an invoice page on Lightning Network. McDonald’s had 19 locations across the Latin American country as of 2019. Just walked into a McDonald's in San Salvador to see if I could pay for my breakfast with bitcoin, tbh fully expecting …

Bitcoin (BTC) holders took profits on Tuesday, just as El Salvador moved to recognize the digital currency as legal tender in a landmark move that could have significant implications for global adoption. After hitting local highs north of $52,800 on Monday, Bitcoin's price plunged all the way to $42,900 in Tuesday trading, according to Cointelegraph Markets Pro. Peak to trough, the flagship cryptocurrency plunged nearly 19% over the previous 24 hours. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele confirmed that his government bought the dip by snatching up 150 BTC during the depths of the selloff. As Cointelegraph reported, El Salvador made its …

Bitso, a major cryptocurrency exchange in Latin America, will be the core crypto service provider for El Salvador’s official Bitcoin (BTC) wallet, known as Chivo. In conjunction with Bitcoin becoming legal tender in El Salvador, Bitso announced on Tuesday that the firm would assist El Salvador in launching the state-supported BTC wallet alongside companies like Silvergate Bank, digital currency company Athena Bitcoin and blockchain firm Algorand. Silvergate Bank, a California state-chartered commercial bank and a United States Federal Reserve member, will work with Bitso to facilitate U.S. dollar transactions for the Chivo wallet. Athena Bitcoin will provide some front-end services …

It is Sept. 7, and El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law has officially come into effect three months after its parliament passed the historic vote. The Central American nation is now the first country to recognize Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender. Tweeting earlier in the day, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele remarked “3 minutos para hacer historia — In 3 minutes, we make history.” However, day one of El Salvador’s Bitcoin experiment has been somewhat marred by server capacity errors suffered by the state-issued Chivo wallet. Addressing the situation, President Bukele remarked: “For a few moments it won’t work @chivowallet, we have …

Amid El Salvador officially accepting Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender on Tuesday, Sept. 7, the Russian government has reiterated its negative stance to a scenario where BTC could be accepted as an official currency. Dmitry Peskov, the official representative of Russian President Vladimir Putin, claimed that Russia has no reason to recognize Bitcoin as legal tender, local news agency RIA Novosti reported on Tuesday. The Kremlin representative argued that putting cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin in line with traditional money instruments would bring nothing but detriments to the country’s financial and economic system. “Clearly, Russia is not ready for such moves,” Peskov …

Amid Bitcoin (BTC) becoming legal tender in El Salvador, another country in Central America is progressing on its way to enable freedom to use cryptocurrencies like BTC and Ether (ETH). On Monday, the Republic of Panama introduced a bill on regulating cryptocurrencies, aiming to make the country “compatible with the blockchain, crypto assets and the internet.” Announcing the news on Twitter, Panamanian pro-crypto congressman Gabriel Silva stressed that the new legal initiative has the potential to generate thousands of jobs, create new investment sources, as well as make the government “more transparent.” According to the draft bill document shared by …