El Salvador to airdrop $30 in BTC to every adult citizen for downloading bitcoin wallet

El Salvador President has announced the government will airdrop $30 worth of BTC to every adult citizen of the country.

El Salvador to airdrop $30 in BTC to every adult citizen for downloading bitcoin wallet

El Salvador’s government will need to purchase BTC it intends to distribute adding more than $100 million in buying pressure on markets.

The quick estimates of the adult population of El Salvador varied, with on-chain analyst Willy Woo tweeting that Bitcoin’s global user base will grow by 2.5% thanks to the influx of 4.5 million population. 

Others placed the country’s adult population as high as 6.5 million, with Yahoo Finance anchor Zack Guzman using the figure for some rough back of the envelope calculations suggesting that $195 million worth of Bitcoin will be used to airdrop across the country. Exact figures are hard to find but Statista shows that in 2019 the population aged 15 and above was 4.72M.

The announcement was made during a June 25 press conference, with President Bukele stating the government’s bitcoin wallet app will even work anywhere with a cell connection, and you won't have to have a cell plan for the app. 

President also stated that the country’s much-celebrated Bitcoin law recognizing BTC as legal currency nationwide will come into effect on September 7.

The Bitcoin law was passed roughly two weeks ago in the country. While the move has been praised by the global crypto community, the legislation has faced opposition from a minority political party and the World Bank.

Read: Athena in plan to bring 1500 Bitcoin ATMs to El Salvador