El Salvador became the first country in the world to elevate Bitcoin to the level of legal tender today, requiring companies to accept the cryptocurrency in day-to-day transactions from now on. El Salvador has only four Bitcoin ATMs, which are machines that allow customers of the corresponding platform operators to buy and sell cryptocurrency on the move. As shown in our graph, much of the Americas as a whole has a long way to go in this regard.
While the adoption of Bitcoin as a regular currency in North American countries is still a long way off, the United States and Canada still have the most Bitcoin ATMs, with a total of 24,669 machines available, according to Coin ATM Radar. Europe, which includes the Russian Federation, is in second place, with 1,263 crypto cash machines spread across 28 countries. South America, on the other hand, only has 89 machines available to its citizens across the continent. Colombia, Brazil, and Argentina are the countries in the region with the most cryptocurrency ATMs.
El Salvador’s population reacted with scepticism when Bitcoin was introduced as a viable currency. According to a survey conducted by the University of Central America in El Salvador in August 2021, almost 83 percent of respondents showed little to no confidence in Bitcoin as a legal tender.
Source: statista
