El Salvador Switches Tech Providers — Chooses Alphapoint to Operate Chivo Bitcoin Wallet

On February 2, 2022, the blockchain infrastructure provider Alphapoint has announced that the Salvadoran government has chosen the firm to operate the bitcoin wallet Chivo. The bitcoin wallet is the largest fintech application in the country and Alphapoint “supports the frontend and backend infrastructure that powers the wallet and integrates the entire ecosystem.”

Alphapoint to Support Chivo Wallet’s Frontend and Backend Infrastructure

The Central American nation of El Salvador has announced it has appointed Alphapoint to handle the country’s bitcoin wallet, Chivo, by allowing it to support its frontend and backend technology. Prior to Alphapoint, the Chivo wallet’s infrastructure was provided by the crypto company Athena Bitcoin. On Wednesday, Alphapoint revealed the Salvadoran government had chosen the firm to help El Salvador “offer financial services and access to Bitcoin for millions of Salvadorans actively using the wallet.”

“El Salvador and President Bukele are truly leading globally with this first major experiment in bitcoin adoption at a country-wide level,” Igor Telyatnikov, the co-founder and CEO of Alphapoint said in a statement sent to Bitcoin.com News. Telyatnikov added:

No one else has attempted to execute a project of this size. We at AlphaPoint are honored to be involved in the process and provide the scalable and reliable solutions needed for this massive undertaking. The Chivo application is currently supporting millions of Salvadorans, many for their first time accessing financial services.

The Salvadoran government’s Chivo wallet has experienced hiccups when it launched and a significant amount of complaints. In mid-September 2021, the Salvadoran Court of Accounts said it planned to investigate Chivo’s kiosk construction. In addition to Alphapoint’s announcement on Wednesday, the Salvadoran government issued a statement about the transition.

“The Government of President Nayib Bukele informs that the American company Alphapoint is providing technology for Chivo Wallet, the first national digital wallet in the world,” the statement from Bukele’s government explains. “Alphapoint, which provides financial technology to institutions globally, is adding its expertise to offer financial services and access to bitcoin for millions of Salvadorans who are actively using the Chivo wallet.”