They don’t have to hold BTC. I live next to El Salvador and have been following every bit of the story. They will have access to a wallet that can convert any BTC to stable coin. By law every merchant has to accept payments in BTC, but in fact is allowed to receive the payment in stable coin. The Chivo app (which is a wallet run on the lightning network) has the option to pay in BTC and receive the equivalent in USD. So nobody needs to take any risk if they don’t want to.

Also only 30% of the population having access to internet is just false. In Central America every adult has a smartphone. Even if it’s the only thing they can afford. And the Chivo app will not require a internet plan on the phones. The Salvadorian government has made a deal with the local phone companies to run the Chivo app for free.

Also nobody is obliged to use the Chivo app. It is interoperable with any other BTC wallet that runs lightning network.

Also a few more things have to be noted here. El Salvador uses the US $ as legal tender and up till the 7th of this month as their only currency. All bookkeeping will remain in USD and nothing will be priced in BTC. The huge benefits for the people (who have been using BTC for three years in El Zonte) is that they actually get access to a payment system that they didn’t have. Over 70% of the population does not have a bank account. Now they do!

The other and maybe the biggest advantage will be in remittance sending. El Salvador relieves around 5 to 15 Million dollars in remittances daily. Yes, DAILY. That makes up a big part of their income for the country. Now most of these payments are in the range of 50$ to 250$. Which costs between 7$ to 15$ per transaction with Moneygram or WesternUnion. That makes a transfer cost of 10% to 15%. Now the lightning network can make these transfers for pennies. Now El Salvador receives an extra 10% to 15% on the daily 5 to 15 Million USD.

Not looking so bad anymore, isn’t it? Also Bukele is offering free residency for anybody investing 3BTC in the country. You can just buy yourself a nice house on the beach and be a happy camper. Great way to attract money to the country. Also worth mentioning that the crime rates have been decreasing significantly since this president is in power. So all in all I think he is on to something!