Bitcoin traders have found a way to use the recently launch Chivo App, the countries own BTC wallet, by El Salvador’s government to make a profit. As part of their BTC Law, this app operates with the second layer payment solution lightning network.
Via its official Twitter handle Chivo Wallet that Salvadorans will be unable to track the price of BTC on the app. According to the report presented by the team behind the app, some users have been using it to do “scalping”.
A type of short-term trading modality, scalping is performed by an operator to take advantage of an asset’s price fluctuations in low timeframes. In previous versions, the app allowed users to “freeze” the price of Bitcoin giving traders an edge to perform this practice by comparing it to exchange rates.
The Chivo Wallet allows users to move BTC via the lightning network to other Chivo users or external BTC wallets. Thus, traders can make a profit by scalping the app’s BTC price. The team behind the app clarified the following on the reasons for the decision:
The “scalping” performed consisted of taking advantage of Chivo keeping the rate frozen for 1 minute and taking advantage of that minute to compare the rate with other exchanges and see if the Bitcoin price went down or up.
In the future, the price of Bitcoin will have limited visibility to prevent these operators from accessing what the team called “an unlimited source of money”. The app will not ban trading itself, just the capacity to “freeze” BTC’s price on the platform.
Salvadorans Will Have New Functionalities On Their Bitcoin Wallet
On the contrary, the team behind Chivo claimed that is working on adding a trading feature for the wallet. In the future, the app will let these operators trade with BTC with any modality, but with the asset’s price display in real-time.
However, Salvadorans can already profit from BTC exposure. Since the wallet was launched, when the government gave citizens a $30 bonus in the cryptocurrency, Bitcoin has increased its value by over 30%.
Upon launch, El Salvador and its president Nayib Bukele surely underestimated or failed to consider crypto traders’ capacity to leverage a situation for their benefit. It remains to be seen whether disabling BTC’s price from the app will effectively stop scalpers.
At the time of writing, BTC trades at $$61,980 with a 1% profit in the daily and a 13.3% profit in the weekly charts, respectively. BTC’s price remains in a rally and it’s near $64,500, its all-time high.
BTC with minor profits in the daily chart. Source:
A literature major, Reynaldo Márquez has been deeply immersed in the crypto industry since 2017. His journey began with translating articles for various crypto news outlets, a role he took on with zeal. In 2018, amidst a challenging market, he embraced his first writing assignment, demonstrating his unwavering commitment to the nascent industry and the promise of change it bears for many people worldwide.
In March 2021, he joined the prestigious crypto news outlet NewsBTC and Bitcoinist, where he not only reported on the latest crypto news but also had the privilege of interviewing some of the industry's most influential figures. A year later, his dedication and hard work were recognized, and he was promoted to Managing Editor, a position he currently holds with pride.
He believes in honesty, good communication, hard work, and the power of cryptocurrency and its potential to transform people's lives, especially those alienated by the legacy financial system. Born in 1992 in Venezuela, Reynaldo is familiar with how governments and central banks can negatively affect people, their everyday lives, and their futures by creating inflation and erasing their hopes for a better future. Thus, like many Venezuelans, he embraced this new technology to help him and his family navigate difficult times.
In another life, Reynaldo would have pursued a career as an investigator, most likely tracking down the origins of the Cyberpunk movement with the publication of William Gibson’s ‘Neuromancer.’ The intersection between fiction and reality, with the materialization of Bitcoin in 2009, would have allowed him to dive deep into the crypto sphere as something more than a financial phenomenon but also a cultural shift in society that was brewing since the XX century, and maybe even sooner, in the XIX century with the publication of Henry David Thoreau’s ‘Civil Disobedience.’
But that’s for another life. In this one, Reynaldo has been trading to improve his trading skills. Since 2023, he has been trying to learn Python to create successful strategies and find ways to execute them. It is a difficult task, which continues to keep him busy today and will most likely continue to keep him busy in the near and long term.
In his free time, he enjoys lifting heavy objects, reading, watching movies, and listening to his favorite music. Some of his favorite authors are Walt Whitman, William Faulkner, Allen Ginsberg, James Baldwin, Raymond Carver, Ray Bradbury, George Orwell, Mario Vargas Llosa, Reinaldo Arenas, Rafael Cadenas, and many others. Lately, he has been primarily interested in reading about dystopic societies, a topic that deeply resonates with the crypto industry.
Since 2023, he has lived in Spain with his wife. He loves the weather, the food, and the people and their culture. They both expect to travel much more within the country they now call home and beyond its border. He hopes to retire with his wife, maybe in a quiet place near a beach, but most likely in a city close to a library and a university with his kids and, hopefully, grandkids.
Disclaimer: The information found on NewsBTC is for educational purposes
only. It does not represent the opinions of NewsBTC on whether to buy, sell or hold any
investments and naturally investing carries risks. You are advised to conduct your own
research before making any investment decisions. Use information provided on this website
entirely at your own risk.
