Independent field guide · Reviewed 29 October 2026
crypto.sv: Bitcoin in El Salvador, as it actually works today.
The law changed in 2025 and Chivo changed hands in 2026. This is a plain guide to what that means if you want to pay with bitcoin here: what the rules say, how a payment works, and where people report it is still accepted. Carry dollars too.
- Accepting bitcoinVoluntary. Since the 2025 reform no one has to take it, and only fully private businesses may. Diario El Mundo, 29 Jan 2025 (opens source in a new tab)
- Taxes and government feesUS dollars only. The Ministry of Finance stopped taking bitcoin on 1 May 2025. El Economista, 18 Mar 2025 (opens source in a new tab)
- Chivo walletMajority owned and run by a private company since 20 May 2026, per the IMF. Diario El Mundo, 2 Oct 2026 (opens source in a new tab)
Live from BTC Map · community data
Each dot is a place someone added to BTC Map, an open map built on OpenStreetMap. A dot is a report, not a guarantee: ask before you order. Find one near you
01The law
Still legal. Now voluntary. Never for taxes.
El Salvador made bitcoin legal tender in 2021. In January 2025 the Legislative Assembly reformed the Bitcoin Law. Here is what changed, in order, and what the reformed text actually says.
7 Sep 2021
The Bitcoin Law takes effect
Bitcoin becomes legal tender alongside the US dollar, and businesses are required to accept it.Sep 2021
Chivo launches
The government's Chivo wallet launches, offering US$30 in bitcoin to people who sign up.29 Jan 2025
The Assembly reforms the law
Decree 199 makes accepting bitcoin voluntary, limits it to fully private parties and ends paying taxes in bitcoin. The reform was a condition of El Salvador's agreement with the IMF.30 Jan 2025
Published in the Diario Oficial
The reform is published and takes effect 90 days later.Diario Oficial de El Salvador, 30 Jan 2025 (opens source in a new tab) · Diario El Mundo, 29 Jan 2025 (opens source in a new tab)
1 May 2025
Taxes in dollars only
From this date the Ministry of Finance (Hacienda) receives tax payments in US dollars only, under a memo from the minister to the Treasury.20 May 2026
Chivo changes hands
The government transfers majority ownership and operating control of Chivo to Chivo LP, a Colorado company controlled by The Fintex Group / Linguard Labs. The IMF first reported the move to a private operator, without naming it, in a statement on 3 Sep 2026. Its review report, published at the start of October 2026, gives the date and names the buyer.Infobae, 4 Sep 2026 (opens source in a new tab) · Diario El Mundo, 2 Oct 2026 (opens source in a new tab)
29 Sep 2026
No new government wallet
The National Bitcoin Office says the government has no plans to launch or operate any bitcoin, crypto or stablecoin wallet.
What the reformed law says
Art. 1 and 7
Accepting bitcoin is voluntary
A shop, landlord or driver can say no. Only people and businesses that are entirely privately owned may accept it at all.
Art. 4, repealed
No taxes in bitcoin
The article that let taxes be paid in bitcoin was removed. Because the state is not a fully private party, government offices do not take bitcoin for fees either. Pay them in dollars.
Art. 3
Prices may be converted
The text now reads “Todo precio podrá ser convertido en Bitcoin”: any price may be converted into bitcoin. Price tags in sats are optional.
Art. 5
Capital gains exemption kept
The reformed article keeps exchanges in bitcoin outside capital gains tax. This is the law's wording, not tax advice for your situation.
Art. 8 and 9, repealed
No state conversion service
The state no longer has to provide bitcoin to dollar conversion or promote training in using bitcoin.
Art. 12
State debts in their own currency
The state's domestic and foreign obligations must be paid in the currency they were taken on in.
Article texts as reported from the approved reform: Diario El Mundo, 29 Jan 2025 (opens source in a new tab). Official publication: Diario Oficial de El Salvador, 30 Jan 2025 (opens source in a new tab).
02Basics
Never used bitcoin? Start here.
Two ideas cover most of what you need at a counter: what a wallet actually holds, and why payments here go over Lightning rather than on-chain. Then a short list of the words you will see on your screen.
A wallet holds keys, and someone has to hold them.
Every wallet answers one question: who holds the keys that control the money? The answer decides what happens if you lose your phone, and who you depend on.
Custodial
A company holds them for you.
Feels like an account. Lose your phone and you can usually log back in. You are trusting the company, which may ask for ID and can freeze or close an account.
Self-custodial
You hold them yourself.
No one can freeze it, and no one can rescue it. Your recovery phrase is the only backup: write it down on paper, keep it private, and never type it into a website.
For a short trip, a small amount in a wallet you have tested at home is plenty. We do not recommend specific wallets: we have no way to vouch for them, and none of them pay us.
Lightning or on-chain: same bitcoin, different road.
An on-chain payment is written into the bitcoin blockchain and has to wait for a block. Lightning is a network on top of it, built for small payments that complete in seconds. That is why a merchant asks “¿Por Lightning?”
Time until the merchant sees it as paid, to scale
- On-chain fee right now
- Checking mempool.space
- Lightning fee
- Usually very small for a small payment, and your wallet shows it before you confirm. On-chain fees go up when the network is busy and down when it is quiet. Either way, the wait is the bigger problem at a counter.
Words you will see
In reading order, with the Spanish you may hear
- Bitcoin (BTC)bitcóin
- A digital money that runs on a public network with no central bank or company in charge. Its price in dollars moves a lot, sometimes within a single day.
- Satoshi, or satsats
- The smallest unit of bitcoin: one hundred-millionth of a bitcoin, or 0.00000001 BTC. Small payments are usually shown in sats.
- Walletbilletera
- An app or device that lets you send and receive bitcoin. Strictly, it holds the keys that control your bitcoin rather than the coins themselves.
- Custodial and self-custodial
- With a custodial wallet a company holds the bitcoin for you, much like an account: simple, but you depend on that company. With a self-custodial wallet only you hold the keys, so only you can lose them.
- Recovery phrasefrase de recuperación, frase semilla
- The 12 or 24 words a self-custodial wallet shows you once at setup, so you can restore it on a new phone. Anyone with those words can take the money. Anyone who asks you for them is a scammer.
- Hot and cold walletsbilletera caliente, billetera fría
- A hot wallet lives on an internet-connected phone or computer and suits everyday spending. A cold wallet keeps the keys offline, often on a dedicated device, for savings you do not touch.
- On-chain
- A payment recorded directly on the bitcoin blockchain, the shared public ledger. Final once confirmed, but it waits for a block and pays a network fee.
- Confirmation
- The moment an on-chain payment is included in a block. The network aims for one new block about every 10 minutes on average, and some merchants wait for more than one.
- Network feecomisión
- What an on-chain payment pays to be included in a block. It rises when many people are sending at once. Lightning has its own routing fees, usually much smaller.
- Lightning Networkred Lightning
- A network built on top of bitcoin for small, quick payments. A payment usually completes in seconds. It is the kind of payment the steps in this guide assume.
- Invoicefactura, código QR
- A one-time Lightning payment request, usually shown as a QR code with the amount already filled in. Invoices expire, so the merchant makes a fresh one for each bill.
- Lightning address
- A reusable address that looks like an email, such as name@example.com, for paying a person or business without asking them for a new invoice each time.
03Paying
Paying with bitcoin, step by step.
What a bitcoin payment at a counter in El Salvador looks like, from the moment you walk in to the moment you leave.
Bring dollars anyway
The US dollar is El Salvador's everyday currency, and taxes and government fees are paid in it. Treat bitcoin as a second way to pay, never the only one, because nobody is obliged to accept it.
Ask before you order
A sticker on the door can be years old. Ask “¿Aceptan bitcoin?” and, if yes, “¿Por Lightning?”
Have a Lightning wallet ready
Chivo’s sign-up asks for a Salvadoran DUI or Salvadoran passport chivowallet.com, accessed 16 Oct 2026 (opens source in a new tab), so most visitors use another wallet that can pay Lightning QR codes. Install it from the official app store, save any recovery words offline, and test it with a small amount before you travel.
Let the merchant make the QR
They enter the dollar amount and their app shows a QR code. Scan it and check that the dollar and sats amounts in your wallet match the bill before you confirm. The converter here helps with that.
Wait for their screen to say paid
A Lightning payment normally settles in seconds. A regular on-chain payment can take much longer and carries a network fee, so it is a poor fit for a coffee.
Watch for fake apps and sites
Install wallets only from official app stores. The Presidency has warned about websites pretending to be Chivo Wallet Presidencia de la República, 12 Feb 2022 (opens source in a new tab).
Live BTC / USD
Fetching the live price
Price from coingecko.com, live (opens source in a new tab), refreshed every minute while this page is open. For checking a bill, not for trading.
04Chivo
Chivo is now majority owned by a private company.
Chivo was launched by the government in 2021. In 2026 it changed hands, and in October the new owner and the government announced a relaunch. If you or your family still use it, this is what is different, and what is only promised so far.
Who owns it
Since 20 May 2026, majority ownership and operating control sit with Chivo LP, a company based in Colorado, United States, controlled by The Fintex Group / Linguard Labs. The new operator can launch new products and charge users fees. Linguard Labs and the government announced the deal publicly on 8 October 2026, nearly five months after the transfer.
Diario El Mundo, 2 Oct 2026 (opens source in a new tab) · Linguard Labs, 8 Oct 2026 (opens source in a new tab)
Who runs the app
CHIVO, S.A. de C.V., which describes itself as a licensed digital asset service provider registered with the CNAD (the National Digital Assets Commission). Its terms were last updated on 10 June 2026.
chivowallet.com, accessed 16 Oct 2026 (opens source in a new tab)
What the state kept
Accounts differ. The IMF report says the state's Bitcoin Strategic Reserve kept a minority stake without influence and keeps custody of the assets backing customer balances. The National Bitcoin Office said on 29 Sep 2026 that all state participation has officially ended. The relaunch announcement of 8 October 2026, made jointly with the government, says the government remains a shareholder and a partner. We report all three.
Diario El Mundo, 2 Oct 2026 (opens source in a new tab) · Diario El Mundo, 29 Sep 2026 (opens source in a new tab) · Linguard Labs, 8 Oct 2026 (opens source in a new tab)
Your account
Linguard Labs says Chivo has more than 4.5 million registered accounts and that existing users keep their accounts and balances.
Linguard Labs, 8 Oct 2026 (opens source in a new tab) · Infobae, 8 Oct 2026 (opens source in a new tab)
Announced, not yet available
The relaunch announcement promises free remittances from the US for “Regular” users, microloans and cash advances based on what you earn, send and pay in the app, financing for merchants, paying at participating shops in bitcoin, dollars or stablecoins with cash back, and a debit card. It describes all of this as coming, not as live, and gives no launch date, interest rates, loan amounts or repayment terms. Until the app itself shows you a feature and its terms, treat it as a plan.
Linguard Labs, 8 Oct 2026 (opens source in a new tab) · Infobae, 8 Oct 2026 (opens source in a new tab)
Fees
Chivo's FAQ still says transfers between Chivo users are free, and sending to an outside wallet pays the Bitcoin network fee. The new operator is allowed to add fees, so check the amount the app shows before you confirm.
chivowallet.com, accessed 16 Oct 2026 (opens source in a new tab) · Diario El Mundo, 2 Oct 2026 (opens source in a new tab)
Who can sign up
Per Chivo's FAQ: a smartphone with internet, a Salvadoran DUI or Salvadoran passport (current or expired) and a valid phone number, which does not have to be Salvadoran.
chivowallet.com, accessed 16 Oct 2026 (opens source in a new tab)
Visiting?
Without a Salvadoran DUI or passport you cannot open Chivo, so bring a wallet you already trust. Chivo’s FAQ says it can send and receive bitcoin with other wallets, with network fees on those transfers.
Need Chivo support?
Use the channels listed on chivowallet.com. crypto.sv is not connected to Chivo and cannot help with accounts or balances.
05Places
Where it is accepted, according to the people who map it.
We know of no complete, current count of businesses in El Salvador that accept bitcoin, so we do not print one. What does exist is BTC Map, a volunteer project built on OpenStreetMap where anyone can add a place or confirm it still takes bitcoin. Search its listings below, or sort them by distance from where you are.
Tap the map to search near a spot
BTC Map dataLoading the listings from BTC Map
confirmed < 12 mo12 to 24 moolder or never
Loading listings
Distances are in a straight line. Your location stays in your browser and is never sent to us. Listings come from BTC Map as its contributors entered them; ask before you order.
What the listings add up to
Listed on BTC Map in El Salvador
1,306
Of those, 310 were confirmed by a contributor in the last 12 months. That is the number we would plan around.
Fetched Oct 29, 2026 · refreshes every 6 hours · btcmap.org, live (opens source in a new tab)
How recently each listing was confirmed
- Confirmed in the last 12 months
- 31024%
- Last confirmed 12 to 24 months ago
- 75758%
- Older than 24 months, or never confirmed
- 23918%
One listing has a confirmation date that has not happened yet, a data-entry slip on BTC Map. We count it as having no valid date, not as recently confirmed.
Added to the map, by year
- 202233
- 2023238
- 2024649
- 2025322
- 202664
When a listing was added to BTC Map, not when the business started accepting bitcoin.
What kind of places
- Food and drink496
- Shops and groceries417
- Services and other144
- Fuel and transport102
- Stays and tourism91
- Banking and ATMs56
Grouped by the map icon BTC Map assigns from OpenStreetMap tags, so the groups are approximate.
Most recently confirmed
- DiprefaServices and otherOct 28, 2026
- North Wine CompanyFood and drinkOct 25, 2026
- Tienda SaraíShops and groceriesOct 19, 2026
- Alex Ken Rent a CarFuel and transportOct 19, 2026
- Pizzeria La ClasicaFood and drinkOct 18, 2026
- Dos Mundos Roaster & Co-LabFood and drinkOct 16, 2026
- Yoga con YaniServices and otherOct 10, 2026
- Asados Niña Flor (Sabor Nicaragüense)Food and drinkOct 10, 2026
Listed as BTC Map reports them. We have not visited these places and do not endorse them. Listings can be wrong: under the reformed law, government entities may not accept bitcoin, whatever a listing says.
Left out of this list on purpose
- National Palace of El Salvador (BTC Map listing 22604). It is a government building. Under the reformed law only fully private parties may accept bitcoin, so we do not feature it as a place to pay, whatever the listing says. It is still counted above and still shows in the place finder.
This list gets better when people use it. If you pay somewhere with bitcoin, or find that a listed place stopped accepting it, confirm or correct it on BTC Map. It takes a minute and helps the next person.
Reality check
Most Salvadorans do not pay with bitcoin.
A busy map is not the same as everyday use. Year after year, fewer people told surveyors they had paid with it.
From the University Institute of Public Opinion (Iudop) at the UCA. The 2024 figure comes from a national survey of 1,266 people carried out 5 to 17 December 2024, margin of error plus or minus 2.75 points. 91.8% said they had not used bitcoin in 2024. Infobae / EFE, 16 Jan 2025 (opens source in a new tab)
There is no 2025 bar because we found no 2025 figure: the published summary of the Iudop’s end-of-2025 survey (fieldwork 2 to 13 December 2025) does not report this question. We would rather leave the gap than fill it. Iudop, UCA, Jan 2026 (opens source in a new tab)
06Questions