El Salvador Partners With Crypto
Wallet Provider AlphaPoint to Address
Chivo Concerns
Wallet users in El Salvador have complained of a host of technological and security
issues since the launch of Chivo.
By Shomik Sen Bhattacharjee | Updated: 3 February 2022 15:28 IST
El Salvador has relaunched its Chivo crypto wallet in an apparent bid to fix a series
of problems within the state-run Bitcoin wallet, including blocked accounts,
unauthorised charges, and failed transactions. The Chivo wallet has faced
technical issues since its roll-out in September 2021 when the country became the
first nation in the world to declare Bitcoin as legal tender, and the government has
now confirmed that it had roped in US-based company AlphaPoint to help provide
a better tech infrastructure for the wallet going forward.
As per a press release, crypto software firm AlphaPoint will support the frontend
and backend infrastructure that powers the Chivo crypto wallet and facilitate the
integration of the entire ecosystem including the mobile application, mobile pointof-sale (PoS) processing, merchant website support, call-centre support software,
and the administrative console.
AlphaPoint, a company that's been around globally since 2013, has been focused
on areas such as wallet stability and uptime, and scalability, while integrating user
verification services that use machine-learning facial recognition and other
authentication tools. The company claims to have also improved on Lightning
integration for wallets to enable near-instantaneous low-fee Bitcoin transactions via
QR and Lightning addresses.
"The Government of President Nayib Bukele informs that the American company
AlphaPoint is providing technology for Chivo Wallet, the first national digital wallet
in the world. AlphaPoint, which provides financial technology to institutions globally,
is adding its expertise to offer financial services and access to Bitcoin for millions of
Salvadorans who are actively using the Chivo wallet," says a statement issued by
the El Salvador government.
The government has also reportedly terminated its contract with Athena Bitcoin,
which previously provided the technology infrastructure for the Chivo wallet.
Despite the technological hitches the country's president, Nayib Bukele continues
to claim that the Chivo wallet is popular amongst El Salvador citizens. In a recent
tweet he claimed that the government issued Bitcoin wallet already has 4 million
users, which is a significant feat for a country with a population of just 6.5 million.
The announcement also arrives days after the government of El Salvador rejected
a recommendation by the International Monetary Fund to drop Bitcoin as legal
tender in the Central American country. Treasury Minister Alejandro Zelaya angrily
said that “no international organisation is going to make us do anything, anything at
all."
The IMF recommended last week that El Salvador dissolve the $150 million
(roughly Rs. 1,120 crore) trust fund it created when it made the cryptocurrency
legal tender and return any of those unused funds to its treasury. The agency cited
concerns about the volatility of Bitcoin prices and the possibility of criminals using
cryptocurrency for various activities.