Media report cases of funds vanishing from Salvadoran Bitcoin accounts

Salvadorans, for unexplained reasons, are losing bitcoins in the state cryptocurrency wallet Chivo, according to New Scientist.

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The publication cited a Twitter user going by the handle El Comisionado, who documented 50 such cases totaling more than $96,220.

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After documenting 50 cases of fraud by the @chivowallet the amount is $96,223.83

Only in these cases. https://t.co/sVfFwrNGyR

— El Comisionado (@_elcomisionado_) December 20, 2021

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“The government does not acknowledge mistakes and stays silent. But this is one of the issues people are demanding answers to. Some have waited months to get their money back,” said El Comisionado.

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The issue was confirmed to the publication by Zaira Navas of the Salvadoran police and a Bitcoin enthusiast using the pseudonym Rogzy.

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“I don’t think Chivo is secure, and no one can verify it because the app’s code is not open source,” Rogzy said.

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In his view, few people use the wallet because most do not know how it works.

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President Nayib Bukele previously stated that the number of Chivo users reached 2.1 million. The country’s total population is about 6.5 million.

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He also acknowledged technical problems with the rollout of the Chivo wallet. Complaints largely concerned the accrual of and receipt of $30 in Bitcoin, which the government paid for registering in the app.

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On 7 September 2021, a law recognizing Bitcoin as an official means of payment alongside the US dollar came into force.

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After the bill was passed in June, the opposition called it unconstitutional. In August, protests against the legalization of cryptocurrency took place in the country.

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