Bitcoin critics and those protesting the policies of El Savador President Nayiba Bukele destroyed a cryptocurrency kiosk in the country's capital.
News service Teleprensa and others posted videos on social media showing a Chivo-backed kiosk in San Salvador burning amid a crowd of journalists and protesters on Wednesday. The Bitcoin ( BTC ) machine, one of many orchestrated by the Salvadoran government since the cryptocurrency was adopted as legal tender in the country, may have been destroyed by an anti-BTC logo and a sign reading "democracy is not for sale."
San Salvador Mayor Mario Durán said city workers withdrew from the area after receiving the threats, but planned to return later that afternoon. At the time of publication, the damage appears to be limited to the Chivo machine in Plaza Gerardo Barrios in the center of the capital, but protesters also reportedly burned furniture from one of the stores in the plaza.
The Chivo kiosk - similar to a Bitcoin ATM - is one of about 200 in El Salvador, part of the government's implementation of BTC as legal tender alongside the US dollar. President Bukele said he hopes crypto ATMs will eventually be "everywhere" in the country, but claimed no one will be forced to use Bitcoin.
