Key Takeaways:
- El Salvador takes AlphaPoint’s help to fix bugs in its Chivo wallet.
- The primary app built by Athena Bitcoin was full of glitches.
- Supporters say that the fixes will encourage wallet users to increase spending.
Earlier today, the government of El Salvador, the first country to accept Bitcoin as a legal tender, has now joined hands with the U.S. software company AlphaPoint. This association aims to fix the bugs in the country’s Bitcoin wallet – Chivo, and implement the Lightning Network.
The Chivo wallet is a centralised, custodial wallet launched last September. Unfortunately, Athena Bitcoin built an app with several glitches, making it hard for citizens to use it. Fortunately, AlphaPoint has fixed those errors and has made the wallet more user-friendly regarding both the company and the government.
El Salvador is rushing to fix the bugs as around four million residents have already downloaded Chivo. Decrypt confirmed that AlphaPoint started working on the Chivo wallet last December and has successfully improved the wallet’s user interface and various bugs. It has also installed a feature to handle the Lightning Network, a “second-layer solution” that will help reduce the time during Bitcoin transactions and make it cost-effective. These improvements will encourage users to spend more Bitcoin on everyday transactions, say its defenders.
AlphaPoint co-founder and CEO Igor Telyatnikov have said, “AlphaPoint has improved the Lightning integration for nearly instantaneous low-fee Bitcoin transactions via QR and Lightning addresses”, and also added that this is the “first deployment of Lightning at this scale”.
Vadim Telyatnikov, AlphaPoint’s co-founder and chairman, further added, “The lighting implementation is a key feature as it allows for Bitcoin transactions of any size, allowing the sending of a single satoshi (under a penny). Due to higher fees, this is not possible for regular on-chain Bitcoin transactions.”
