Never let it be said that El Salvador president Nayib Bukele doesn’t keep tabs on what’s trending on Google News.
The controversial South American premier has now launched a special discount on the price of petrol – for Salvadorans who pay in Bitcoin.
Chivo, the state-backed Bitcoin firm, has agreed a deal with petrol stations which will sell fuel 20 cents per gallon cheaper for customers that pay using their crypto wallets, Bukele told his Twitter followers over the weekend.
He claimed the crypto benefit would erase the increases in the international fuel prices.
El Salvador and Bukele landed in the global spotlight this summer, particularly among crypto-evangelists and crypto-sceptics, as the South American country adopted Bitcoin as legal tender.
The country has used the American dollar since 2001 and sought to use bitcoin to reduce its dependence on the US currency.
Consumers in El Salvador can, with the use of state supported Bitcoin wallets, carry out most transactions in Bitcoin including paying for goods and services, and even their taxes.
Critics of Bukele’s latest Bitcoin related scheme said that taxpayers would be the ones paying for petrol subsidy.
Bukele has also pledged to “stabilise” El Salvador’s domestic price of liquified gas which he says will see a slight reduction versus an expected US$1.17 rise in international prices (per cylinder).