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来源类型 | Working Paper |
规范类型 | 报告 |
DOI | 10.3386/w29968 |
来源ID | Working Paper 29968 |
Are Cryptocurrencies Currencies? Bitcoin as Legal Tender in El Salvador | |
Fernando E. Alvarez; David Argente; Diana Van Patten | |
发表日期 | 2022-04-25 |
出版年 | 2022 |
语种 | 英语 |
摘要 | This paper studies the potential of a cryptocurrency to become a medium of exchange. We use evidence from a natural experiment: In September 2021, El Salvador became the first country in the world to make bitcoin legal tender, and all economic agents were required to accept bitcoin for all payments. The Salvadorean government also launched an app, “Chivo Wallet,” which allowed users to digitally trade both bitcoin and dollars, and gave major incentives to download it. We conduct a representative national face-to-face survey to obtain information on bitcoin’s usage and effects. Leveraging this data, we document how, despite the government’s “big push” and a large fraction of people downloading Chivo Wallet, usage of bitcoin for everyday transactions is low and is concentrated among the banked, educated, young, and male population. We also estimate the fixed cost of adopting the new payment technology, the importance of strategic complementarities for users, and the elasticity of substitution between mobile payments and other payment methods. |
主题 | Macroeconomics ; Money and Interest Rates |
URL | https://www.nber.org/papers/w29968 |
来源智库 | National Bureau of Economic Research (United States) |
引用统计 | |
资源类型 | 智库出版物 |
条目标识符 | http://119.78.100.153/handle/2XGU8XDN/587642 |
推荐引用方式 GB/T 7714 | Fernando E. Alvarez,David Argente,Diana Van Patten. Are Cryptocurrencies Currencies? Bitcoin as Legal Tender in El Salvador. 2022. |
条目包含的文件 | ||||||
文件名称/大小 | 资源类型 | 版本类型 | 开放类型 | 使用许可 | ||
w29968.pdf(1455KB) | 智库出版物 | 限制开放 | CC BY-NC-SA | 浏览 |
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