El Salvador becomes first nation to adopt bitcoin as legal currency

El Salvador on Tuesday became the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender, although it suffered teething problems when the government had to unplug a digital wallet to cope with demand.

President Nayib Bukele, who pushed for adoption of the cryptocurrency, called for help from users who had already downloaded the government-backed app, to test if it was now working properly.

“Could you please try to register and post in the comments if there are any errors or if the whole process works fine?” the president wrote on Twitter.

Bukele said using bitcoin will help Salvadorans save $400 million a year on commissions for remittances, while giving access to financial services to those with no bank account.