薩爾瓦多：比特幣海灘實驗

加密貨幣愛好者從世界各地來到薩爾瓦多，親眼目睹該國如何採用比特幣

A new kind of holiday money

一種新的假期錢

As well as El Salvador, the Central African Republic announced in 2022 that it would recognise bitcoin as legal tender. You can still spend it in many other countries, including the UK, although companies do not legally have to accept this method of payment. There are 11 countries where cryptocurrencies are banned as a method of payment, including Russia, China and Vietnam.

與薩爾瓦多一樣，中非共和國於 2022 年宣布將承認比特幣為法定貨幣。您仍然可以在包括英國在內的許多其他國家/地區使用它，儘管公司在法律上不必接受這種付款方式。有 11 個國家禁止使用加密貨幣作為支付方式，包括俄羅斯、中國和越南。

To pay using cryptocurrency you have to download a digital wallet to your computer or phone. Before his trip to El Salvador, Morris bought £30 worth of bitcoin — equivalent to about 0.00058 bitcoin, or roughly 60,000 satoshis (there are 100 million satoshis in one bitcoin) — paying a £1.49 transaction fee to convert his sterling.

要使用加密貨幣付款，您必須將數位錢包下載到您的電腦或手機上。在前往薩爾瓦多之前，莫里斯購買了價值30 英鎊的比特幣——相當於約0.00058 比特幣，或大約60,000 聰（一枚比特幣有1 億聰）——支付了1.49 英鎊的交易費來兌換英鎊。

He downloaded the Wallet of Satoshi app to store his bitcoin in. The Wallet of Satoshi uses “lightning” tech, which means that it is connected to an ultra-fast network and payments are made in seconds.

他下載了中本聰錢包應用程式來儲存他的比特幣。

“After that, you can just go up to a counter, order a coffee, and ask to pay in bitcoin,” Morris said. “They load a QR code on the till, which I scanned using my Wallet of Satoshi app. The app tells you how much your coffee is worth in bitcoin, and then you tap the ‘OK’ button. There’s a ping, and the payment is instantaneous.”

「之後，你可以到櫃檯點一杯咖啡，然後要求用比特幣付款，」莫里斯說。 「他們在收銀台上加載了一個二維碼，我使用我的 Wallet of Satoshi 應用程式掃描了該二維碼。該應用程式會告訴您您的咖啡價值多少比特幣，然後您點擊「確定」按鈕。只要有一個 ping 訊號，付款就會立即完成。

There are more than 200 bitcoin ATMs around El Salvador, and Morris used one to buy an extra £20 worth while he was there. For a 2 per cent fee, you can use cash or a credit card to buy the cryptocurrency. A QR code appears on the ATM screen which you scan with your app to verify the transaction and load bitcoin to your digital wallet. “The whole process takes 30 seconds, and is very easy,” Morris said.

薩爾瓦多周圍有 200 多台比特幣 ATM 機，莫里斯在那裡時用一台額外購買了價值 20 英鎊的比特幣。只需支付 2% 的費用，您就可以使用現金或信用卡購買加密貨幣。 ATM 螢幕上會出現一個二維碼，您可以使用應用程式掃描該二維碼以驗證交易並將比特幣加載到您的數位錢包中。 「整個過程只需 30 秒，而且非常簡單，」莫里斯說。

Check the country’s rules before you do this. In the UK crypto ATMs are legal, but only if the operator is registered with the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), the City regulator. There are no registered operators at present, which means that any crypto ATM in action is illegal. Last month at Westminster magistrates’ court Olumide Osunkoya of London admitted five charges of unlawfully running multiple cryptocurrency ATMs in a case brought by the FCA.

執行此操作之前，請先檢查該國家/地區的規則。在英國，加密 ATM 機是合法的，但前提是營運商已在金融市場監管機構金融行為監管局 (FCA) 註冊。目前還沒有註冊運營商，這意味著任何正在運行的加密貨幣 ATM 都是非法的。上個月，倫敦威斯敏斯特地方法院承認了 FCA 提起的一起案件中非法運行多台加密貨幣 ATM 機的五項指控。

In total, Morris spent £50 worth of bitcoin on his trip, using it to pay for drinks and food in cafés and bars, for excursions, and a packet of coffee from a plantation he visited.

莫里斯在這次旅行中總共花費了價值 50 英鎊的比特幣，用它來支付咖啡館和酒吧的飲料和食物、短途旅行以及他參觀過的種植園的一包咖啡。