El Salvador Bitcoin Rollout

Bitcoin licked its wounds on Wednesday, a day after its heaviest losses in 2-1/2 months, as El Salvador's historic adoption of the crypto asset as legal tender caused chaos online and on the street. The event was beset by problems, as an angry protest by mistrustful citizens, technological glitches, and a dip in the cryptocurrency clouded the rollout. Bitcoin last traded at $46,560, having endured wild trading the day before in which it hit a near four-month high of $52,956 before plunging 11.1%, its largest fall since June 2. At one point on Tuesday, the digital currency fell as much as 18.6%, wiping out more than $180 billion from the market. It was a historical day for bitcoin as El Salvador's experiment of making it legal tender got off to a bumpy start. Promising $30 of bitcoin for each user, Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele has pushed for its adoption, saying it will help Salvadorans save $400 million a year on commissions for remittances while giving access to financial services to people with no bank account. Opinion polls showed that Salvadorans are skeptical about using bitcoin, fearing its volatility and unsure how it will work. The poorest may struggle to access the technology needed to make bitcoin work in El Salvador, where nearly half the population has no internet access, and many more only have spotty connectivity.