When it comes to Bitcoin ATMs, El Salvador appears not to be moving forward in 2022, dropping to fourth place in the world ranking of countries with the most BTC ATMs and leaving third place to Spain.
El Salvador does not increase Bitcoin ATMs in 2022
The country where Bitcoin is legal tender, El Salvador, appears to have implemented no strategy to increase BTC ATM installations in 2022.
Indeed, in the global distribution ranking reported by CoinATMRadar, it appears that El Salvador has dropped off the podium, leaving its third place to Spain, which currently hosts as many as 260 crypto-ATMs.
And in fact, as was announced at the beginning of the year, the European country intends to install as many as 100 new Bitcoin ATMs in the country by the end of the year, thanks to a collaboration between Bitnovo and Eurocoin.
El Salvador, on the other hand, remains at 212 Bitcoin ATM installations, adding only 7 installations during 2022.
El Salvador and the overall decline of Bitcoin ATMs in 2022
In general, analyzing the data for 2022 to date, El Salvador seems to have chosen to decrease or stop the number of Bitcoin ATM installations in its country.
Indeed, while 2021 seems to have spurred its growth, thanks to the law that made BTC legal tender in the country, today it appears that the long crypto winter is prevailing instead, registering a decline also for Bitcoin ATMs.
Data reveal that as of January 2021, 14,040 ATM machines had been installed worldwide, which had become 33,850 as of 28 December. This is more than double the number of ATMs installed in one year.
In contrast, 2022 sees a graph with a flatter growth curve. Compared to 34,393 on 1 January 2022, there are now 38,656 Bitcoin ATMs installed, only just over 4,000 machines in 10 months.
A little over a year since the Bitcoin Law: the benefits for the country
It was 7 September 2021 when Bitcoin was made official as legal tender in El Salvador, just over a year ago.
Apparently, the Bitcoin Law, while criticized by many, seems to have brought general benefits to citizens. In fact, the country’s Central Bank claimed that thanks to Bitcoin, 70% of the population who did not have access to the banking system now have the ability to transact and receive remittances from abroad.
Further benefits were reported in the tourism sector. El Salvador with the Bitcoin Law seems to have attracted many investors, but also many curious people who landed in the Land of Surf to see how the system worked.
In the first six months of 2022, the country’s Tourism Agency reportedly reported a surge of 82%, with about 1.1 million tourists arriving.
Lugano wants to follow El Salvador’s example
Lugano also seems to want to follow in El Salvador’s footsteps, especially after making Bitcoin and Tether official as legal tender in March 2022, and wanting to make the Swiss city a hub for cryptocurrencies.
And so while in El Salvador, there is renowned President Nayib Bukele who has made Bitcoin Law possible, in Lugano there is Michele Foletti, the city’s spirited mayor who seems to be on the same page.
On 7 September 2022, Foletti reportedly celebrated the first year of Bitcoin legal tender in El Salvador while also congratulating Bukele.
Lugano has long become one of the most open cities for events, exhibitions, conferences, and case studies as well as use cases related to the world of blockchain and cryptocurrencies.
Nayib Bukele defies the Constitution and runs for president again
Despite the explicit ban on presidents serving consecutive presidential terms, it appears that Nayib Bukele has nonetheless opted to run for a second five-year term.
The revolutionary Bukele does not intend to stop, but rather defies the constitution in order to continue being the president of El Salvador.
And indeed, having become president in 2019, the president is apparently preparing to run in the next election in 2024, the year in which the fourth halving of Bitcoin will also occur.
Source: https://en.cryptonomist.ch/2022/10/25/el-salvador-surpassed-ranking-bitcoin-atm-installations/