萨尔瓦多：比特币海滩实验

加密货币爱好者从世界各地来到萨尔瓦多，亲眼目睹该国如何采用比特币

A new kind of holiday money

一种新的假期钱

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.

与萨尔瓦多一样，中非共和国于 2022 年宣布将承认比特币为法定货币。您仍然可以在包括英国在内的许多其他国家/地区使用它，尽管公司在法律上不必接受这种付款方式。有 11 个国家禁止使用加密货币作为支付方式，其中包括俄罗斯、中国和越南。

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.

要使用加密货币付款，您必须将数字钱包下载到您的计算机或手机上。在前往萨尔瓦多之前，莫里斯购买了价值 30 英镑的比特币——相当于约 0.00058 比特币，或大约 60,000 聪（一枚比特币有 1 亿聪）——支付了 1.49 英镑的交易费来兑换英镑。

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.

他下载了中本聪钱包应用程序来存储他的比特币。中本聪钱包使用“闪电”技术，这意味着它连接到超快的网络，并且可以在几秒钟内完成支付。

“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.”

“之后，你可以到柜台点一杯咖啡，然后要求用比特币付款，”莫里斯说。 “他们在收银台上加载了一个二维码，我使用我的 Wallet of Satoshi 应用程序扫描了该二维码。该应用程序会告诉您您的咖啡价值多少比特币，然后您点击“确定”按钮。只要有一个 ping 信号，付款就会立即完成。”

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.

萨尔瓦多周围有 200 多台比特币 ATM 机，莫里斯在那里时用一台额外购买了价值 20 英镑的比特币。只需支付 2% 的费用，您就可以使用现金或信用卡购买加密货币。 ATM 屏幕上会出现一个二维码，您可以使用应用程序扫描该二维码以验证交易并将比特币加载到您的数字钱包中。 “整个过程只需 30 秒，而且非常简单，”莫里斯说。

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.

执行此操作之前，请先检查该国家/地区的规则。在英国，加密 ATM 机是合法的，但前提是运营商已在金融市场监管机构金融行为监管局 (FCA) 注册。目前还没有注册运营商，这意味着任何正在运行的加密货币 ATM 都是非法的。上个月，伦敦威斯敏斯特地方法院承认了 FCA 提起的一起案件中非法运行多台加密货币 ATM 机的五项指控。

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.

莫里斯在这次旅行中总共花费了价值 50 英镑的比特币，用它来支付咖啡馆和酒吧的饮料和食物、短途旅行以及他参观过的种植园的一包咖啡。