Problems continue to plague El Savador’s bitcoin rollout

El Salvador – One week after El Salvador became the first country to make bitcoin legal tender, problems continued to plague the system Tuesday.

El Salvador rolled out a digital wallet known as the “Chivo” on Sept. 8, but the system has often been down for maintenance. It may have been overloaded by the sheer number of Salvadorans looking to take advantage of the $30 bonus that the government put in each account to incentivize adoption.

Even users like street vendor Cesar Estrada, who were able to download the wallet, have been unable to access the bitcoins.

“After several attempts I managed to download the Chivo wallet, but I haven’t been able to use the $30,” said Estrada.