In the running and in the upcoming years, many countries may announce the legalization of Bitcoin (BTC) and altcoins.
No matter how many countries may legalize cryptocurrencies, they will never be able to become the first country to do so.
The First Country to Legalize Bitcoin
El Salvador has carved its name into history by legalizing Bitcoin before any other country even thought about it.
The country worked hard to adopt Bitcoin and its president, Nayib Bukele worked even harder to get Bitcoin legalized in the country.
Although there was huge resistance from the locals within the country against the legalization of Bitcoin the president’s decision prevailed.
He had longed for bringing El Salvador to the top of the chain as a country with a very strong economy. He saw an opportunity that Bitcoin offered and did not waste time adopting it.
The Country is Small
Although the country adopted Bitcoin as a legal tender, there is still a problem with its size and population. El Salvador is a very small country compared to the largest countries in the world.
Even the population of the country is just over 6.5 million. Therefore, no matter how many adoptions it brings, it cannot compete with large countries in terms of figures.
These countries include the United States, Canada, Australia, Brazil, and many more. The populations in these countries are tremendous.
Therefore, the slightest surge in demand in one country can be much higher than El Salvador’s demand ten times over.
Bitcoin ATMs in El Salvador
Just as Bitcoin was legalized in El Salvador, Bukele ordered to the installation of as many Bitcoin ATMs as possible. He has claimed that more than 60% of people in El Salvador are using Bitcoin.
Therefore, he wanted to get as many ATMs installed as possible with the capability of processing BTC transactions.
However, with limited resources, the country only managed to install 205 by the end of 2022. Although the figure is not so big it was able to make Bukele very happy.
He had issued an order that he wanted more than 200 Bitcoin ATMs installed by the end of 2022.
In the mid of 2022, El Salvador was the third-largest country in terms of Bitcoin ATMs installed. It ranked third while Canada ranked second and the United States ranked first.
However, its ATM installation figure is nothing against the ATMs installed in the top two countries in terms of BTC ATMs installed.
As the year 2022 entered its fourth quarter, Spain overtook El Salvador and became the third-largest country in terms of BTC ATMs.
Spain reportedly had 215 Bitcoin ATMs installed by the end of September and as the year 2022 has come to a close, its figure has surged to 226 ATMs.
Australia has Surpassed ES as well
Just when El Salvador is trying to increase its ATM figure, Australia has come from behind and has taken its fourth spot.
As the data came out on January 1, 2023, it revealed that Australia has become the fourth-largest country in terms of BTC ATMs installed.
With the latest move, El Salvador has moved down to the 5th spot, which is something that is quite natural.
The population of Australia is more than 25 million and El Salvador’s overall population is just around 6.5 million.
Compared to ES, Australia’s crypto adoption rate is just 23% but it accounts for 5.75 million Australians, a figure much higher than El Salvador’s crypto population.
Although Australia is just trying to fulfill the need of 23% of its population for crypto ATMs, it has resulted in the country installing 216 ATMs so far.
However, this is not the stop for Australia, the country is eager to increase its crypto ATM count tremendously in 2023. On the other hand, El Salvador will not be able to retake its fourth spot.
