Is El Salvador Giving Up on Bitcoin After 5 Years?
El Salvador is backing a government app that lets citizens send and hold digital dollars. The app runs on stablecoins, not Bitcoin (BTC).
Five years ago, President Nayib Bukele made El Salvador the first country to accept Bitcoin as legal tender. It seems the country is now looking to shift towards a more stable form of crypto.
I’ve just sent the #BitcoinLaw to Congress 🇸🇻 pic.twitter.com/DljnxsXlyt
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) June 9, 2021
What the El Salvador Stablecoins App Does
The app, called Sivar, is built by Modveon, a Palo Alto startup that came out of stealth on Tuesday, Bloomberg reported. Its payments run on Base, a blockchain network built by US exchange Coinbase.
Salvadorans sent $9B home last year. Percentage fees took millions of it.@Modveon's Sivar now uses Coinbase infrastructure and Base to let US users send any amount to El Salvador for a flat $2.
— Coinbase 🛡️ (@coinbase) September 29, 2026
Transfer to off-ramp, all included. pic.twitter.com/a5b2na5lJ0
Users first verify with a government ID. The app then places them in local groups based on their home address.
From there, they can send money, post content, and join live polls. Salvadorans living abroad can also vote in local elections.
Modveon CEO Nana Murugesan says El Salvador is the firm’s first national deployment. The five-year contract carries a multimillion-dollar fee the company did not disclose.