President Nayib Bukele Explains the Use of #Bitcoin in El Salvador on National Television | #Chiv...

Mr. President of the Republic of El Salvador, who is about to deliver an important message to the nation. Fellow Salvadorans, good evening. Today we want to reach you at home, on your cell phones, on your tablets, through this national broadcast to talk a little about the Bitcoin Law and how it will benefit Salvadorans. This law is designed to generate employment, to generate investment, and it will not affect anyone, as the opposition has tried to suggest with their dirty campaign, trying to confuse Salvadorans into believing they will be harmed by a law that has no other objective than to benefit them. I want to give some details about this law and how it will work. There has been a lot of uncertainty, confusion, and some doubts, which are normal when you want to apply something new and innovative for the country. But let's talk a bit about how it will work, what the benefits are, and why it will not affect anyone. No Salvadoran will be harmed by this law; on the contrary, there will be many beneficiaries, and we hope this will be one of the many things that help us move our country forward. Well, the Bitcoin Law. As you all know, this is a digital currency, meaning it is not a currency like we normally know in cash; there are no bills, no metal coins, but it functions in the digital world. And what the Bitcoin Law seeks is to connect our country with the rest of the world, attract foreign currency, investments, and tourism, and energize our economy. The law will come into effect on September 7th. Bitcoin will be legal tender. Unlike what many have said, the dollar will also continue to be legal tender. I understand the concerns about this issue, and it is because we were deceived once before when they promised us in the Monetary Integration Law that there would be a bimonetary system, and we were told that the dollar would function alongside the colon. But what we actually saw was that they took away our colones, changed our bank accounts from colones to dollars, and eventually removed the colones from circulation. That same promise was a farce. Now, those who did that, like the opposition, think that we will do the same and that our saying the dollar will circulate alongside Bitcoin is a lie, like the one they told in 2001, and that in the end only Bitcoin will circulate and we will remove dollars from circulation. That is false and absurd, since the dollar will continue to be legal tender; it is expressly stated in the law. The fact that they violated their own Monetary Integration Law does not mean we will do the same. On the contrary, it means that those who are now criticizing the law have no moral authority to criticize, when they lied to the Salvadoran people. And we, who have not lied to the Salvadoran people, will prove that we will comply with the law and keep our promises. So the dollar will continue to be legal tender, completely normal as it is now. The use of Bitcoin will be optional. Some people say it won't be optional because of Article 7. Well, we will talk about how the law works, but we want to make it clear that the use of Bitcoin will be optional. That is, no one will receive Bitcoin if they do not wish to, for any type of payment. It will be completely optional. How will it be optional? That is what we will explain a bit in this broadcast. Salaries and pensions will continue to be paid in dollars. There has been some dirty campaigning about salaries or pensions being paid in Bitcoin. This is not true. Both salaries and pensions will continue to be paid in dollars. Bank accounts in dollars will not be converted to Bitcoin, as was done with dollarization when our bank accounts in colones were converted to dollars. In this case, it will not be like that. Accounts in dollars will remain in dollars, whether savings accounts, fixed-term accounts, checking accounts, etc. They will continue to be maintained in dollars. No account will be converted to Bitcoin. This is part of what we will explain later about how it works, but this is what we mean when we say it is optional. If someone receives a payment in Bitcoin, they can choose to receive it automatically in dollars. Therefore, it is completely optional. No one has to receive Bitcoin if they don't want to. How will Bitcoin work in El Salvador? Well, let's start with the law. The law that was approved, the Bitcoin Law, unlike other laws, is a very concise law of two pages with only 16 articles. This is a simple law that has nothing hidden. It is not a thousand articles; it is easy to understand. It is a law of 16 articles. What are those articles? Well, let's see. Article 1: This law aims to regulate Bitcoin as unrestricted legal tender, with unlimited discharging power in any transaction and for any purpose that natural or legal persons, public or private, require to carry out. The aforementioned is without prejudice to the application of the Monetary Integration Law. As we said earlier, dollars will continue to circulate, since this law does not annul the Monetary Integration Law. Article 2: The exchange rate between Bitcoin and the United States dollar, hereinafter referred to as the dollar, will be freely established by the market. That is, it will not be set by the government, but freely established by the market. Article 3: All prices may be expressed in Bitcoin. There is no obligation to express any price in Bitcoin, but a business may freely decide to express it in Bitcoin. If they do, they can do so, as stated in Article 3, but no one is obliged to do so. Article 4: All tax contributions may be paid in Bitcoin. The state will accept Bitcoin for tax payments. If you want to pay income tax, etc., you can pay it in Bitcoin. Are you obliged to receive it? Of course not. You can continue paying in dollars, but you will be able to pay in Bitcoin. This is an option for the Salvadoran people. This does not affect anyone; on the contrary, it is an additional option that the population has. If they don't want to use it, they don't have to, but if they want to use it, here it is. Article 5: Bitcoin exchanges will not be subject to capital gains tax, just like any legal tender. This article was included because in other countries, Bitcoin is treated as an asset, like gold or silver, and therefore subject to capital gains. Since it is a currency, it does not have capital gains if its price improves relative to another currency, and therefore there is no capital gains tax, just like with dollars, euros, yen, yuan, or any other currency. Article 6: For accounting purposes, the dollar will be used as the reference currency. This has been a concern for banks and some companies: how can I keep my accounting if there are fluctuations in value relative to the dollar? For accounting purposes, the dollar will continue to be used as the reference currency. That is, Bitcoin will not be used for accounting purposes. Article 7, which the opposition has used to claim that we will force people to receive Bitcoin, says: 'All economic agents must accept Bitcoin as a form of payment when offered to them by whoever acquires a product or service.' Taken out of context and looking only at Article 7, it would seem that everyone is obliged to accept Bitcoin as a form of payment and therefore receive Bitcoin. But that is not the case. Economic agents, that is, businesses, are obliged to accept Bitcoin, but not to receive it. How is that? Accept it and not receive it? We will explain, but what is important is that Article 7 cannot be taken out of context from the 16-article law, and especially cannot be taken out of context from Article 8 and Article 12. As Article 8 says: 'Without prejudice to the actions of the private sector, the state will provide alternatives that allow the user to carry out transactions in Bitcoin, as well as have automatic and instantaneous convertibility from Bitcoin to dollars, if they so wish.' Let's pause here. If someone pays you with Bitcoin, you can press a button—we will explain how it works—and immediately receive dollars. So it is completely optional, because although the payer can pay in Bitcoin, you can receive dollars. This is similar to those who have businesses and have credit card terminals. For example, if you have a restaurant and a tourist comes and pays with their credit card, you swipe the card and you receive the amount in dollars. But if the tourist is from Europe, the tourist is charged in euros. In other words, you are accepting euros, but you do not receive euros; you accept euros but receive dollars. In fact, you don't even have to calculate how many euros the tourist will be charged; that's the tourist's problem. You will receive dollars. If the bill is $12, you will receive $12, regardless of what the tourist is charged in euros. So, you accept euros but receive dollars. The same way, the tourist can pay in Bitcoin, but the business will receive dollars if they wish, as it says here: 'as well as have automatic and instantaneous convertibility from Bitcoin to dollars, if they so wish.' Additionally, the state will promote the training and necessary mechanisms so that the population can access Bitcoin transactions. This is important because many people might say, 'Well, I don't have the software, or I don't know how it works, or I don't understand it well,' or a company might say, 'I have to train my staff.' No problem. The state will promote training and the necessary mechanisms so that the population can access Bitcoin transactions. And that will be related to Article 12, when we get to it. You will see why Article 7 could not be taken out of context, as some opposition groups have maliciously done to confuse the population, when Article 8 and Article 12 make clear how Article 7 works. Article 9: The limitations and operation of the automatic and instantaneous conversion alternatives from Bitcoin to dollars provided by the state will be specified in the regulations issued for that purpose. This means that the rules of the law are issued, as always, in the respective regulations. And this is what we will see about how it will work. Article 10: The executive branch will create the necessary institutional structure for the application of this law. In other words, the government will ensure that this works. Final and transitional provisions. Article 11: The Central Reserve Bank and the Superintendence of the Financial System will issue the corresponding regulations within the period mentioned in Article 16 of this law. Then Article 12, which we talked about a while ago. Article 7 cannot be taken out of context from Article 8 and Article 12, much less from the law as a whole with its 16 articles. Article 12: Those who, by notorious fact and in an evident manner, do not have access to the technologies that allow executing Bitcoin transactions are excluded from the obligation expressed in Article 7 of this law. And then it repeats a bit of what Article 8 said, just to make it even clearer: 'The state will promote the training and necessary mechanisms so that the population can access Bitcoin transactions.' In other words, if someone for some reason does not have a cell phone, no internet signal, does not know how it works, cannot download the app, has not trained their staff, is not ready, they are excluded under Article 12. But the state will promote training and the necessary mechanisms so that the population can access the benefits of Bitcoin transactions. Therefore, the state will improve the internet signal, promote accessibility to devices, etc., so that people can enjoy the benefits and not exclude the most vulnerable population from the benefits that the law brings. Now, again, it is optional to receive or not receive Bitcoin. It is not that the most vulnerable people are obliged to receive Bitcoin. No, the state will provide the necessary services so that those people can receive them if they wish. And as we have seen in El Zonte, vendors of snacks, small shops, etc., have benefited from receiving Bitcoin. In the system we are presenting, if you accept Bitcoin but do not want to receive Bitcoin, but want to receive dollars, you will receive dollars—the exact amount of the product or service you are selling. So it should not affect you; on the contrary, you are gaining a customer. Article 13: All monetary obligations expressed in dollars existing before the entry into force of this law may be paid in Bitcoin. But again, as we explained earlier, one thing is to accept Bitcoin and another is to receive Bitcoin. More or less like the example I gave about a tourist paying in euros with their card but receiving dollars. The same way, Bitcoin will work. They can pay in Bitcoin, but if the receiver wants dollars, they will receive dollars without any problem. But in 2001, they lied to us with the Monetary Integration Law. Those who lied were the ones who now want to lie about the Bitcoin Law. We have not lied about Bitcoin, nor will we lie, and we will prove that to the Salvadoran people once it comes into effect. Article 14: Before the entry into force of this law, the state will guarantee, through the creation of a trust fund at the Development Bank of El Salvador, the automatic and instantaneous convertibility of Bitcoin to dollars of the alternatives provided by the state mentioned in Article 8. Article 15: This law will have a special character in its application with respect to other laws that regulate the matter, repealing any provision that contradicts it. That is, the articles here will be respected. And Article 16: This decree comes into effect 90 days after its publication in the official gazette. In other words, September 7th. The government has created an electronic wallet, which we will call 'wallet'—that's what it's known as in the world, but electronic wallets. Basically, it is a wallet that works on the cell phone to make or receive payments in dollars or Bitcoin. That means the wallet the government will create will work with two accounts: a dollar account and a Bitcoin account in the same wallet. This wallet will be downloadable on iOS, which is for Apple, and Android, which is for the vast majority of cell phones in our country. You only need an internet signal to use it, and it does not consume your data balance. That is, the wallet does not consume internet data. You don't need to have an internet plan; you don't need to have credit on your cell phone. Simply, if there is an internet signal, you can use the wallet, whether to make transactions, pay, receive money, receive remittances, check your account status, and you don't need to have credit. There just has to be an internet signal in the area. That's why we talked about needing to improve connectivity and internet coverage in El Salvador. But there is already quite a bit of coverage, and the unification is that if there is a signal, it doesn't consume credit. The app doesn't cost money; you just open it. If there is an internet signal, it will work for any type of transaction or to check it, and it will not consume a single cent of credit. The wallet is downloaded like WhatsApp, like Facebook, like Instagram, or any other application. Once downloaded, you have to enter your ID and cell phone number to register. Just by downloading and registering, you will receive $30 worth of Bitcoin for consumption. These will be the only Bitcoins that a person who does not want to receive Bitcoin will receive. Why? Because they will be given as a gift when opening the wallet. You will receive $30 worth of Bitcoin. Normally, when you receive money, you can choose whether you want Bitcoin or not. But those $30 are to promote the use of Bitcoin and to promote the use of the app. Therefore, this is the only time people will receive Bitcoin. People who do not want to receive Bitcoin, well, the government is giving them $30 without having to pay anything—free, equivalent in Bitcoin for consumption. So you will generate income. You download it, register, and receive $30 worth of Bitcoin to use wherever you want. That's why Article 7 is important. Because if people want to go buy with the $30 the government is giving them, and they go to a place that doesn't accept Bitcoin, then they would be left out of being able to use it in supermarkets, pharmacies, etc. So we need businesses to accept Bitcoin, even if they don't want to receive it, and receive it in dollars. At least accept it so that the population that has Bitcoin, whether from the government's gift or if they accept Bitcoin in another way, can use it to consume. So the government will deposit the equivalent of $30 in Bitcoin at the time of registration. How much is that in Bitcoin? It depends on the market at the time of registration. But it will be the equivalent of $30 at that moment. Those $30 can go up or down according to the price of Bitcoin in the market. But remember, these $30 are a gift. That is, the government puts them in; no one has paid anything. So if it goes up to $35, great; if it goes down to $25, too bad, but it's not affecting anyone because no one put $30 of their own money; the government is putting it in for whoever registers the wallet. Businesses, as mentioned earlier, will have the option to receive payment in dollars or Bitcoin, even from those who pay with the Bitcoin given by the state. In other words, if someone receives Bitcoin on their cell phone—the $30 from the state—and goes to consume at a pharmacy, the pharmacy is obliged to accept the payment, but it is not obliged to receive the Bitcoin. If the pharmacy wishes, it can receive its payment in dollars. Therefore, the medicine they are buying, which cost, say, $5, the pharmacy will receive exactly $5. It will not receive $4.95, nor $4.50, nor $6. They will receive exactly the amount of dollars that the price on the tag indicated. So the pharmacy cannot complain because it is completely optional for them, but it also does not affect the consumer, because the consumer has the right to have their Bitcoin accepted, even if the pharmacy ends up receiving dollars because they decided so. And when I say pharmacy, I mean any business; I'm just using a pharmacy as an example. You will also be able to deposit dollars, load your wallet, and withdraw cash at ATMs or affiliated points. The wallet functions on its own. You can receive in the wallet and pay with the wallet. But if someone wants cash, they can go and withdraw cash; there's no problem. Although it's almost unnecessary because people can pay with the wallet, whether in Bitcoin or dollars, and businesses can receive either in Bitcoin or dollars. It's a secure way to have money, and it's also a more secure and faster way to make transactions. It's somewhat like a debit card, with the difference that a debit card only works in dollars, while the wallet works in dollars and Bitcoin. Another difference is that debit cards charge businesses a commission that can be up to 5% or 6% of the sale. In the case of the wallet, there is no commission. Commissions are 0.00. There is no commission. If someone pays $5 and the business decides to receive $5 in dollars, they will receive $5, not $4.99, not $4.95, not $5.01. They will receive exactly the $5 they are being paid. Now, why make this law? Well, because the market capitalization of Bitcoin in the world is over $600 billion. And if we do this, investors and tourists who possess this capital will come to El Salvador, and therefore they will benefit Salvadorans and the country's economy. An example: a tourist. Tourists come to El Salvador attracted by the fact that El Salvador has Bitcoin, the only country in the world that has Bitcoin as legal tender. Despite what many people believe, Bitcoin is a currency that works in all countries of the world. Even in El Salvador, there are more than 50,000 people who are already using Bitcoin. Apart from the version, there are many people who use Bitcoin and make transactions every day. But El Salvador, being the first country to give it legal tender, to make Bitcoin a currency, will attract many people, many investors. We have already seen many tourists who have come just to get to know the country that has Bitcoin as currency and to support the Bitcoin ecosystem. So, an example: a tourist comes, let's say Steve, and a Salvadoran merchant who sells coconuts on the beach, named Miguel. Steve brings Bitcoins; he doesn't bring colones, he doesn't bring dollars. He brings Bitcoins. Why? Because he wants to; it's optional, remember that. And Miguel, let's say, doesn't want to receive Bitcoin. So Steve goes to Miguel and says, 'Miguel, I want a coconut.' And Miguel says, 'Yes, but I want to receive dollars.' No problem. But Steve wants to pay in Bitcoin. That's why Article 7, taken out of context, would seem like we are forcing Miguel to receive Bitcoin. But no, we are only telling Miguel to accept Steve's Bitcoins, and we will convert them into dollars, and he can receive dollars if he wishes. That's why it's 100% optional for Miguel, but it's also 100% optional for Steve. So Miguel transfers to Steve... Actually, Steve transfers to Miguel $2, because $2 is what the coconut costs. And he tells him he wants it in dollars. So Steve transfers Bitcoins, but when it reaches the app, Miguel selects dollars, and therefore $2 will be deposited in his wallet, not $1.95, not $2.01, exactly $2, the same price he was asking. What is the impact on Miguel? None. On the contrary, he has the advantage of having just gained a customer who otherwise would not have come to him. Thanks to this law and this wallet, Miguel receives $2 that he otherwise would not have had. And he gives him his coconut. Now let's look at a case of internal consumption that comes from the same case of the tourist. Miguel already has his $2 that Steve paid him, and he goes to Cecilia, who has a food stand. Miguel wants dollars, and Cecilia wants dollars. Miguel has dollars because, remember, although Steve paid in Bitcoin, Miguel decided to receive it in dollars. So Miguel has $2 in his account. That's an example; it could be more or less, but in the end, he has exactly what he asked for. So he goes, not with Bitcoin, but with dollars, to Cecilia. But since he has them in the wallet and doesn't want to withdraw cash, but wants the security of the wallet, he goes to Cecilia with his cell phone and says, 'Cecilia, I want to buy some basic grains, $2 worth of basic grains.' He transfers $2 to Cecilia's wallet. Cecilia receives them, obviously in dollars. Cecilia sells the basic grains to Miguel. Now Cecilia has the $2 that Miguel gave her, and she buys some school supplies, say two notebooks, for example. What we want to show here is that the $2 that Steve brought in Bitcoin were converted into dollars for Miguel, then became $2 for Miguel, then became $2 for Cecilia, then became $2 for Ruth. And in that way, we energize the economy. The more wallets, the more circulation of money, and more money in the hands of Salvadorans. The Bitcoin that Steve brought became dollars for a lot of people, because one receives the dollars and spends them with another, and so on. Other tourists come, other investors come with more Bitcoins, they convert to dollars, and in the end, more Salvadorans receive more money. That's why I'm surprised when they criticize the law. How can they criticize something that will bring benefit to the people, that will bring more money into the hands of Salvadorans, that will grow the economy, and that will not affect anyone? Because Miguel wanted his $2 in cash, in dollars, and he received them in dollars. They went to Cecilia, and she paid in dollars. In the same way, everyone who wants to receive in dollars receives exactly the amount in dollars they asked for the product or service. So why would anyone be against that? I don't understand. This is important. There are hundreds of companies that offer wallets in the world. Very likely, Steve does not bring the government's wallet; he will bring one of the many wallets that exist in the world. There are wallets in the US, Asia, Europe. There are hundreds of wallet companies in the world. The government will offer one, but people are free to use whichever they want. Not only tourists, investors, or people coming from other countries, but also Salvadorans are free to use other wallets. There are hundreds of wallet options. But the government is offering one that guarantees compliance with all the articles that benefit the population in the Bitcoin Law. But people are free to use any wallet that the free market offers. The government's wallet will be compatible with all other wallets in the world. For example, if Steve uses a wallet made in the US, there will be no problem with Miguel if Miguel is using the government's wallet; it will be totally compatible. And there will be a wallet for individuals and a wallet for companies. Here we will talk about individuals, which is the majority of people we are reaching, but there will be a version for companies, in case they have several employees and will have a different point of sale, but basically it works the same. It's just that the wallet is registered to the person, and the wallet is registered to the company. Well, let's look at the case of remittances. One of the reasons we approved the Bitcoin Law is precisely to help people who send remittances. As you well know, remittances—both those who send them and those who receive them—know that remittances pay commissions, pay high costs for sending, and have several problems. Here, those problems are eliminated. Let's say Rosita is in the US and Miguel is here in El Salvador. And his aunt wants to send him $30 in remittances. As you can see, she wants to send dollars, and Miguel wants to receive dollars using the government's wallet. She can send the $30 to Miguel. Miguel selects, as we said at the beginning, it's completely optional. Miguel's option is to receive dollars, and therefore he receives $30. What are the advantages? Number one: it's instantaneous. It's not that it will come tomorrow or the day after, or in three days, or on Monday after the weekend. It's completely instantaneous. You don't have to stand in line, you don't have to go to a place to queue to try to collect the money. Simply, the money has already arrived. There are no minimums. It could be a remittance of $10, but it could be $5, it could be a remittance of 50 cents, it could be a remittance of $3. It doesn't matter. It could be $1,000, it could be $1, it could be 5 cents. There is no minimum. It works at any hour. It's not at 8 in the morning when the remittance house opens. You can send it at 1 in the morning. Any hour, any day, 24/7. There are no intermediaries, so you don't have to pay anything. As you can see here, all these benefits that the wallet has for remittances: an instant remittance, a remittance without standing in line, a remittance without minimums, a remittance at any hour, 24/7, a remittance without intermediaries. It gives the ability to send, for example, if the person sending the remittance wants to send a remittance of $20, and they send it at 1 in the morning, that person can receive the $20 in dollars at 1 in the morning. And if that person wants to spend those $20, if there is an establishment open, say a gas station or a pharmacy that is open 24 hours, at that same hour, at 1 in the morning, they can spend those $20. Unlike now, where the person sending the remittance has to go deposit the remittance, then make the transfer to El Salvador, pay large amounts for the remittance to be made, then the person has to go stand in line, collect the remittance during business hours when the branch is open, and then can go spend that money. In this case, it's instantaneous. And you receive it, no matter the amount. It could be a remittance of $1, and immediately that dollar can be spent. You don't need to wait until Monday or for the branch to open. It's completely instantaneous, 24/7, no minimums, no lines, no intermediaries. That's why this makes the wallet very beneficial for all those who receive and send remittances. As you know, we are talking about millions of Salvadorans. Millions of Salvadorans will be benefited by the Bitcoin Law. That's why, again, I don't understand how they can attack a law that will only benefit people. In this case of remittances, it will benefit those who send remittances and those who receive remittances. And as I said a while ago, millions of people will be benefited, not only by not paying those fees and commissions, but also because they will receive it immediately. There are no minimums. Currently, you cannot send a remittance of $5 because the costs are too high, and no one is going to stand in line to collect it; it's not worth it for a $5 remittance. But with this system, you can easily send a $5 remittance without any problem, and you can use the $5 immediately. And you won't receive $4.50; you will receive $5. And you won't receive it in Bitcoin; you will receive it in dollars, unless it is sent in Bitcoin and you want to receive it in Bitcoin. But even if it is sent in Bitcoin and you want to receive it in dollars, no problem. Press the button to receive dollars, and you will receive it in dollars, and you can spend it immediately. How will the government's wallet work? Well, the wallet is called Chivo. And as you are seeing on the screen, you register with your phone number and your ID. It has facial recognition or a call center verification to create your account. This is only at the moment of creating the account, not to access it. When you want to access the account, you can only do so either by facial recognition or with a PIN. To create the account, it is done with facial recognition or by verification through a call center. This is to give security to the population and to prevent scams or someone else using another person's ID. There will be a call center that will verify that the person registering their wallet is indeed the owner of that ID, and therefore the owner of that application, and therefore the owner of the $30 in Bitcoin that the government will give for registering. And that will give you the security of the wallet you will have on your cell phone. Because if you lose your cell phone, or it gets stolen, or you leave it somewhere, just like your Facebook account or your Instagram account, you can easily grab another phone and with your password, change the password immediately, and you have control of your wallet, of your money. Therefore, it is much safer than cash and much safer than a debit card. Here is the screen of how it will look on the cell phone. You enter your phone number so the app sends you a verification code to access your account. It will send it via text message. You write the code on the cell phone. There you put the verification code that was sent to you via text message, and then it will ask you to verify your identity by taking a photo of your ID. After taking the photo of your ID, it will ask you to place your face in the camera in that circle to do facial recognition. If you don't have that, as we said a while ago, if the phone doesn't have this technology, the call center will simply call you by phone to verify, ask a couple of questions, and verify that you are the owner of your ID. To use it, you can simply lock it with facial recognition or by entering the PIN. The PIN is the password you will have, which will give you security so that if someone steals your cell phone, or you lose it, or leave it somewhere, they cannot access your money because they need the PIN. And if someone for some reason has your PIN, you can simply change it. That's why I said it's much safer than cash, because if you have cash and you lose it, or it's stolen, or you leave it somewhere, you lose it. In this case, you have several layers of security that allow you not to lose your money, as you would with a physical wallet or carrying bills in your pocket. You unlock the wallet with facial recognition or by entering the PIN, one or the other. A while ago we talked about how, when registering, you will receive a bonus of $30 worth of Bitcoin for consumption. As I said at the beginning, these are the only Bitcoins that someone who does not want to receive Bitcoin will receive. Obviously, those who want to continue receiving Bitcoin can do Bitcoin transactions. But for those who say, 'No, I want to do everything in dollars,' the only Bitcoin they will receive is this bonus that the government will give of $30 worth of Bitcoin. Why will the government give this bonus? For two reasons: one, to promote the use of Bitcoin in the economy; and two, so that people have an incentive to use the application and download it, and in that way, the system starts. And in that way, you can go to a store, a shop, a business, and everyone will have Bitcoin—the coconut seller, the snack seller, the popsicle seller—because they will all have the same incentive to have downloaded the application because of this bonus. Therefore, to spend your money, you will find that most people have it. Of course, as we discussed in Article 12, it is clear that if someone does not have the technology or does not know how to use it, they don't have to. But the bonus will serve as an incentive to have the application. Therefore, if you want to go to a barber and pay for your haircut with the app, you can do so. If you want to go to the store and buy something—a carton of eggs, a pound of rice, a pound of beans, bread—you can pay, and most likely the person at the store will have the application because they had the same incentive as you: the government will give a $30 bonus upon registration. And in that way, we guarantee that more people have the application. And as we explained at the beginning, the more wallets there are in the country, the more the money multiplies. Because if the tourist spends $2 in Bitcoin, the merchant receives it, that merchant goes and buys, and then that person goes and buys, and in that way, the money multiplies. Therefore, the government is interested in there being more wallets, and that's why it gives $30, so that this money multiplies and generates dynamism in the economy. This is the screen when you register. Here you will have the registration bonus. The button that says 'Convert Funds' works when you make a voluntary conversion. Someone wants to convert funds from dollars to Bitcoin or from Bitcoin to dollars. Although the bonus will be in Bitcoin. So when you register, this screen will appear and it will say, 'Welcome, here is your reward for joining Chivo,' and you will receive $30. And below, it will say its equivalent in Bitcoin, what you are actually receiving. In the case of the bonus, you are receiving Bitcoin equivalent to $30 at market value at the time of registration. This value can change. This is the only time that 100% of people will receive Bitcoin. And these $30 can vary; they can go up or down in price according to the price of Bitcoin relative to the dollar in the world market. But if it goes up to $33 or $35, it's a benefit. And if it goes down to $27 or $25, well, you didn't pay for those $30 anyway, so this doesn't affect anyone. What we are doing is incentivizing the use of Bitcoin and incentivizing the use of this system, which will generate multiplication of money in the economy and give a boost to the economic growth of our country. So, at the beginning, here is Miguel. As you can see, in dollars, he has $0, and in Bitcoin, on the left side where it says USD, he has $0, and on the right side where it says BTC, he has the equivalent of $30. Why are the dollars shown in large and the Bitcoin below in small? Because people are more accustomed to using dollars. So both in the dollar wallet and in the Bitcoin wallet, they are expressed in dollars. Now, the dollar part, which is the left side, he has $0 right now because no one has sent him dollars via remittances, he hasn't deposited dollars, he hasn't made a transaction or a sale in dollars, so he still has $0. But the Bitcoin part, the government deposits $30 worth of Bitcoin, which is shown below. In the case of dollars, it also shows below, there it says 0, obviously. But when there are dollars, it will show its equivalent in Bitcoin as a reference. In the case of dollars, the left side will never vary the number of dollars; it will only vary how much those dollars are worth in Bitcoin according to the market. On the right side, the Bitcoin he has—in this case, the $30 in Bitcoin that the state gave him—has a convertibility below. In this case, what will vary is the amount in dollars; the amount in Bitcoin will not vary. Why? Because the state deposited $30 in Bitcoin. It's different when you receive dollars; there, the dollars don't vary, what varies is how much Bitcoin is worth. The reward is there. The transactions are $30. Instead of saying in Bitcoin, what he has on the right is the $30 already deposited in his Bitcoin account. On the left, he has $0 because no one has deposited dollars. Payments and money can be sent easily with a QR code. So, someone deposited $100. How does this deposit work? Well, we already saw that you can deposit or receive a remittance. There, someone deposited $100 in his wallet. Therefore, as you can see on the left side, he has $100 in dollars, and on the right side, he has $30 in Bitcoin. And he decides to send money. He is going to send it to Roberto Fajardo because he is going to buy a snack from him. So he selects Roberto Fajardo, scans the QR code, and transfers $3 to Roberto Fajardo. But as we said at the beginning, it's optional. If Miguel wants to pay in dollars or in Bitcoin, let's say Miguel doesn't want to touch the dollars because that's his savings, but he wants to spend part of the Bitcoin the government gave him. So Miguel tells Roberto, 'I'm going to pay you in Bitcoin.' That's why Article 7 tells Roberto that he has to accept Miguel's Bitcoin, but it does not oblige Roberto to sell his snacks in Bitcoin. Roberto wants to receive $3 in dollars; he doesn't want to receive Bitcoin. Roberto wants to receive dollars because his snacks are priced in dollars, and he doesn't want to receive Bitcoin. No problem. Miguel sends $3 worth of Bitcoin from what the state gave him, but Roberto receives it in dollars. So the payment is made in $3, and it says 'sent in Bitcoin.' And then Miguel still has the same $100 he had in dollars, but of the $30 the government gave him in Bitcoin, he only has $27 left because he spent $3. And as you can see in the transactions, he has the $30 reward in Bitcoin, the $100 deposit in dollars, and the $3 payment in Bitcoin that he made to Roberto. Therefore, he has $100 in dollars and $27 in Bitcoin. Below, the equivalent in Bitcoin is shown as a reference. You can make payments and send money directly to your contacts, whether for remittances or for any situation. So, he decides to send $50 to Patricia Portillo. He puts Patricia Portillo, sends her $50, and Patricia Portillo receives the $50. But in this case, Miguel says, 'The $50 I'm going to pay Patricia or give to Patricia, I'm going to send it from my dollar account.' He sends $50 from his dollar account. There, it asks how he wants to send it: from his dollars or from his Bitcoin. He says, 'I want to send it from my dollars,' and he sends $50 because he wanted to. Completely optional. Then, in the transactions, the record will appear. That's why it's better than cash, because not only is it safer, but it also keeps a record of payments and what you have received. There are the $30 reward, the $100 deposit, and the $50 sent to Patricia. Here, the snack transaction doesn't appear because it's another example, but if it did, the $3 for the snack would also appear. Here, the dollar account had $100; he sent $50 to Patricia, so he has $50 left. Simple as that. And you can also receive payments via QR code. So, let's say Miguel decides he can receive in dollars or in Bitcoin. He has the option of automatic convertibility from Bitcoin to dollars. Because let's say Miguel hasn't bought a snack, hasn't sent anything to Patricia. He simply opened his account and received his $30 reward in Bitcoin. He has $0 and $30 in Bitcoin from the government. But he is going to receive a payment. So he is asked how much he is going to receive, and he says, 'I'm going to receive $100,' either because someone sent it to him or because he wants to deposit it. Then he is asked how he wants to receive it: in dollars (USD) or in Bitcoin (BTC). He decides to receive it in dollars. A QR code in dollars will be generated, and he will receive the $100 from the person making that transaction. And he is asked if he wants to receive it in Bitcoin or dollars. Here, in this case, to receive Bitcoin, and in the other case, to receive dollars. You can receive them as you wish, in Bitcoin or in dollars. Once deposited, this person selected dollars, so he will have the $100 deposit in dollars and the $30 in Bitcoin that the state gave him for registering for the application. You can also convert dollars to Bitcoin or Bitcoin to dollars from the account. Someone has dollars and Bitcoin, but says, 'I want to buy Bitcoin because I want to make an investment and I think the price will go up.' This is completely voluntary. No one has to buy Bitcoin, but if someone wants to buy, they can do so from the wallet in an instant, secure, and free way. This is a person who has made expenses, received money from Maria Paz, spent money at the Joven bookstore, spent money at the Nelly pupuseria. They have a transaction history that can be reviewed. You can make transactions and see all of them; the complete list would appear. But then, all these transactions... Miguel has $944 in dollars and $122 in Bitcoin, and he says, 'I want to buy $22 worth of Bitcoin.' Why? Because he voluntarily wants to buy $22 worth of Bitcoin from the dollars he has in his account. He wants to buy Bitcoin. He can do it. He buys $22 worth of Bitcoin and converts the $22 into the amount that the free market establishes for Bitcoin at that moment. And in that way, the convertibility is done. There, the transactions appear. The amount in dollars decreases, and the amount in Bitcoin increases because he made a conversion from dollars to Bitcoin. It's a conversion he wanted to do voluntarily. Our obligation is not to do it; we simply provide the option to do it if someone wants to. And well, that's how the government's wallet works. It will be called Chivo and can be downloaded from the App Store or Google Play, and it will be available in September for all Salvadorans. As I have explained here, no one will be forced to receive Bitcoin if they don't want to. Those who have tried to take Article 7 out of context forget that there is Article 8 and Article 12. Once you read the complete law, as I read it a while ago, you can see that there is no obligation to receive Bitcoin. It only states that Bitcoin must be accepted and converted to dollars, and you receive dollars if you wish. Why? Because if Miguel doesn't have the $2 he was paid, and he goes to buy from Cecilia, and she decides to receive it in Bitcoin, and then he goes to buy and they don't accept those Bitcoins, then to guarantee that his Bitcoins are accepted—not only Miguel's, but also tourists', investors', etc.—we have this system to accept Bitcoin but receive dollars if you wish. Now, if someone wants to receive Bitcoin, they can receive it. Bitcoin fluctuates in the market; its price can go up or down, of course. But this is voluntary. If someone wants to receive Bitcoin or wants to invest in Bitcoin, it's because they wanted to. They can make money or lose money. They can lose money, as with any investment. That's something someone decides. But Salvadorans will not be forced to use it. Salvadorans will have an application where they can receive Bitcoin. Businesses, small entrepreneurs, self-employed merchants, etc., will be able to receive Bitcoin. Which Bitcoin? The Bitcoin from tourists, from investors, from banks that come to the country, the Bitcoin that the government gives to the people. And they will be able to accept those Bitcoins but receive them in Bitcoin or in dollars. So if someone sells a product, say a market stall, and a woman sells fruit, and she sells that fruit for $5, someone comes, a tourist or a Salvadoran who has Bitcoin, and says, 'I want to buy those $5 worth of fruit.' They can buy them, and she accepts it. But if she doesn't want to receive Bitcoin, she doesn't want to take the risk. She priced the fruit in dollars; she has to cover the cost of the fruit, the exact profit from the stall, her expenses. So if the woman wants to accept it in dollars, simply, as we explained how the app works, she makes the transaction but presses the button to receive dollars, and $5 will be deposited in her account. She will not receive Bitcoin if she doesn't want to. She will receive $5. It's completely optional. Why is it optional? Because there is Article 7, but there is also Article 8 and Article 12. By reading all the articles, or simply seeing how the wallet works, you can understand that it will not affect anyone. No one will receive Bitcoin if they don't want to, except for the $30 in Bitcoin that the government will give as a gift. I wouldn't understand why someone wouldn't want that. You will have the possibility to make transactions with the wallet if you wish. If you don't want to, no problem. Cash continues to work. In fact, the only cash that works in El Salvador is dollars. Bitcoin has no paper money; it has no bills or coins as such. Therefore, there is no cash in Bitcoin. So 100% of cash transactions will continue to be in dollars. There will be no cash transactions in Bitcoin because it's impossible. Therefore, if you do your transactions in cash, it will not affect you at all. On the contrary, it will give you a benefit. Several benefits: first, by downloading the wallet, you receive $30 in Bitcoin, which you can use to consume, to buy whatever you want. The other benefit is that you will have an application so that if a Salvadoran, a tourist, or an investor comes to buy from your business or request a service or product, you can accept their Bitcoin but receive dollars in your account. So you charge $10 for something, and they pay you, and the tourist can pay in Bitcoin. No problem. You press the button and receive, if you want, Bitcoin with market fluctuations up or down, or you receive dollars, where your $10 will be $10. So, again, there is no impact on anyone, and there are many benefits, both for individuals and for the economy of El Salvador, due to the generation not only of investment or the arrival of tourists, investors, and Bitcoin entrepreneurs, but also because it will have a multiplier effect on the economy, as we explained at the beginning. The person who receives Bitcoin and brings it into the economy will not necessarily keep those Bitcoins saved; although they can save them, it's more likely that they will spend them elsewhere. Therefore, there will be a chain of consumption that will not only benefit them but also other businesses. In the end, the more wallets and more people using the government's wallet or even another wallet, the more multiplication of money there will be, and more people will benefit from this economic growth that otherwise, if we didn't make this law, they wouldn't have. There are many benefits, no impacts. No one will have to receive Bitcoin if they don't want to. There should be no opposition to something that will bring benefit to the people and will not bring any impact to anyone, except obviously the political opposition. But who is going to believe the political opposition? They already lied to us with the bimonetary system in the Monetary Integration Law. They have lied to us all our lives. I think we would make a grave mistake if we believe them now. This is a law made for the benefit of the population. It is a law that opens us to the world. It is a law that puts us in the eyes of the world for something good and innovative. And it is a law that, as I have explained here, only brings benefits to people and no impacts. It's that simple, that easy. And in the end, everyone will see the benefits once this starts working on September 7th. God bless you all, and good night.