Over the past month, there has been a range of complaints about Chivo on social media.
While many people spent the holidays with friends and family, at least dozens of people in El Salvador were chasing down customer support for their government-provided bitcoin wallets — and tweeting about it.
Sometime between November and December, the website began to receive noticeably more complaints about unknown or failed transactions related to Chivo, the state-backed bitcoin wallet that went live to much fanfare in September.
“I’ve spent nearly two months waiting for them to help me with a transaction worth nearly $1,000 at the time,” tweeted @Josh 91 L on December 9. “With the value of Bitcoin continuing to fall, it appears that it will be much less.” I’m still hoping that they’ll resolve it willingly one day.”
“Yesterday, I discovered that transactions in my bank account have been made through the Chivo Wallet totaling more than $3,000,” Twitter user Jenn Larin85 wrote on December 19. “I’m hoping they [fix this for me] as soon as possible!”
Chivo, which is local slang for “cool,” has played a prominent role in the drama that has been unfolding since El Salvador passed legislation making Bitcoin legal tender in September. The wallet, which is optional to use and accepts both Bitcoin and the local currency of US dollars, is intended to provide a few benefits only to Salvadorans.
Chivo users pay no commission for remittances to other Chivo users, currency conversions, or withdrawing physical cash from the 200 Chivo-branded ATMs across the country, in addition to receiving a free $30 in Bitcoin when signing up.
When Chivo works properly, these features make it easier for Salvadorans to send remittances and pay for things without the need for physical cash. However, many users claim that a slew of issues has shaken their faith in the app.
The Block has reviewed a variety of complaints about Chivo on social media over the last month, including claims of unauthorized charges in the app and external bank accounts, blocked accounts, phishing schemes targeting users, failed transfers to other wallets, and identity theft. Furthermore, for this article, more than ten people shared firsthand accounts of issues.
While The Block was unable to independently verify all of the social media posts criticizing Chivo, our investigation revealed evidence that the app has experienced a variety of issues that have affected a large number of people in its short life.
Despite this, The Block was unable to obtain clear responses or comments from either government officials or representatives of the private companies that assisted El Salvador in developing Chivo.
Vanishing funds, failed transfers and blocked accounts
Chivo was never a flawless app. The initial iteration of the wallet was plagued by technical glitches and bugs from the start. However, recent social media reports from Chivo users indicate that the software continues to have issues — not only with the app’s user experience but also with the amounts of money in people’s accounts.
One reason for the increased visibility of Chivo’s problems in recent weeks is that some Salvadorans have taken it upon themselves to track complaints about the wallet publicly.
The most well-known of these efforts is a now-famous December 18 thread by an anonymous Twitter user known as El Comisionado, or “The Commissioner” in English.
It all started with 50 people claiming that they had lost money in Chivo or their bank accounts, or that they couldn’t access it in the app. Since then, the thread has grown to include 80 individual reports, totaling more than $127,000 in allegedly stolen, inaccessible, or unrealized funds. The majority of these assertions are reflected here.
The thread’s issues tend to revolve around a few main themes: people claiming they’ve been barred from accessing their Chivo accounts, unauthorized Chivo-related charges, failed or pending transactions, and issues with Chivo ATMs.
Several people told The Block that they had called the Chivo helpline several times and were told that a tech support team would call them back or email them about their case. However, they are still waiting for a final resolution, which could take weeks or even months.
It is unknown how many people have experienced similar issues with the Chivo app, how many cases have been resolved, or the total amount of funds affected. El Comisionado told The Block that they did not include small transactions of $50 or less, or reports that did not include an amount, in the thread.
What we do know is that people from all walks of life, from those who never wanted anything to do with the wallet to crypto enthusiasts and supporters of President Nayib Bukele, who spearheaded the Bitcoin law, have reported problems with Chivo. People in El Salvador as well as those living abroad have been affected by the problems.
After contacting customer service, some people have been able to get their money back or their cases resolved. For example, a Twitter user named Gaby Rodriguez-Trippconey reported that someone had taken $3,921 from her bank account after making 13 fraudulent transactions in the name of Chivo, but later stated that the issue had been resolved following investigations by both Chivo and her bank.
Others are still waiting, including Eliezer Hernandez Arias, who told The Block that they couldn’t access Chivo because their account had been blocked. Hernandez claims he hasn’t been able to access his Chivo account since November 3, with the exception of a few days in December following an app update, when he was able to log in but not access his funds.
Hernandez stated that he was using Chivo to trade cryptocurrency without paying a commission and that the majority of his friends in a 29-person Telegram group — who have also used the app for trading and scalping — are experiencing the same issue.
“I’ve tried it all.” “I’ve gone to Chivo Points, I’ve called the call center every week since I was blocked, I’ve gone to the prosecutor’s office, and they haven’t given me a solution,” he explained. “All they say is that my case is in compliance and that they can’t give me any more information.”
Hernandez is still attempting to solve the problem because he has a sizable amount of Bitcoin in his Chivo Wallet that he cannot access. He and his friends have noticed that the text of the error messages that appear when they try to access Chivo has changed in recent weeks. The messages first stated that the user or password was incorrect. Then they discovered various errors, such as the phone number being invalid or the user being required to use a real phone number to register.
Other users’ blocked or inaccessible accounts have been reviewed separately by The Block. One displayed a completely blank screen, while another said in Spanish, “Failed verification — your account will be updated soon.” Our support team will look over your registration.”
It’s unclear whether Chivo is blocking people because of specific types of trading activity, issues with identity verification, or something else.
In October, Chivo admitted that it had removed the ability for users to see a frozen Bitcoin price for up to a minute before trading. This enabled people to check other exchanges in the meantime and engage in speculative trading such as scalping while the price remained fixed (scalping is legal, but Chivo said it would be a type of fraud in this case due to the frozen prices).
Several users have also reported being unable to transfer funds between Chivo and other cryptocurrency wallets. On January 7, Twitter user Balmory Parada stated that he and his wife transferred $1,000 from Chivo to their Strike accounts via the Lightning Network, but the transaction was still pending two weeks later, with the funds unavailable.
While some of these issues may be related to other wallets, the sheer volume of reports about failed or pending crypto transactions involving Chivo users raises concerns about the app’s role.
Another Chivo user, who asked that their name not be published out of fear of retaliation for speaking out, told The Block that on December 16, they attempted to transfer $64.33 from Chivo to their Exodus crypto wallet. After at least 15 calls to Chivo’s customer service line, they claim the transaction is still pending, and the money is still unavailable for use in Chivo.
Chivo is inconsistent
To get a feel for the app, I attempted to make several transfers to two different people’s Chivo accounts. The experiences could not have been more dissimilar.
First, I attempted to send Bitcoin to José, a crypto-savvy Salvadoran, on the condition that he return the funds as soon as possible after receiving them. However, according to Chivo, the funds never appeared in his wallet.
I used Satoshi’s Wallet to send two Lightning Network transactions to his Chivo wallet for 24 sats and 1,193 sats. However, despite receiving confirmations that the transactions were paid, he sent me a screenshot showing the transfers as “canceled” in Chivo.
Then I used my Coinbase wallet to send a $4.25 on-chain Bitcoin transaction. Screenshots show that this transaction was also marked as “canceled” in Chivo, despite the fact that it was confirmed by a Bitcoin block explorer. That means José’s wallet did indeed receive my funds, but Chivo’s interface did not reflect the transaction for some reason.
Next, I attempted to send money to my friend Mario, and the transaction went smoothly. He quickly received both the Lightning and on-chain Bitcoin transactions and promptly returned them to my wallets.
So, yes, Chivo works — just not all of the time.
Yelling into the void
One of the most common complaints among those who spoke with The Block about Chivo was that someone else had used their personal information to create accounts in their name or the names of family members.
A valid phone number and an El Salvador ID number are required to open a Chivo account. The app then requests a photo of the ID as well as a selfie for facial recognition. Many Salvadorans have provided this information solely for the purpose of receiving the free Bitcoin.
However, this verification system is not without flaws. Back in October, CoinDesk reported that some people had demonstrated how they achieved verification — and thus unlocked the $30 bonus — by apparently taking a photo of an ID photocopy instead of a physical one, and snapping a “selfie” of a coffee mug or movie poster character instead of their actual face.
Whatever the reason, there have been numerous reports of people discovering they had active Chivo accounts despite never using the app. Marisol, a marketing manager, told The Block that she had no intention of using the app and was surprised to discover that she already had an account when she downloaded it.
She contacted Chivo, and she received a call back confirming that an account had been created using her personal information. Chivo ended up resetting the account and mentioning a transaction. But she still has no idea who made it and had hoped to find out so she could file a legal complaint.
Cristosal’s lawyer and legal chief of anti-corruption and justice, Ruth López, told The Block that the organization set up a special online platform to collect complaints about Chivo between October 9 and October 14, and again between November 5 and November 7. Around 1,200 people wrote in, with the majority of complaints relating to their credentials being used without their permission to create or use Chivo accounts.
López, who was a victim of someone using her personal information to open a Chivo account, said Cristosal decided to open the commenting platform after seeing numerous complaints on social media and no response from the government.
“People who work for the government, for example, contacted me directly through my personal Twitter account, saying, ‘Look, I wrote but I can’t present myself because I can’t take the risk of being named on a list and losing my job,'” López explained.
According to López, many people aren’t concerned about the $30 as much as they are about someone using their personal information to commit crimes that can later be traced back to them.
Despite these reasonable concerns, “there was no institutional response,” according to López. “There were numerous complaints, but no public institution did anything.”
Cristosal has also filed two separate legal actions related to Chivo, each involving more than 200 people, but claims that the government has not acknowledged either of them. “Public institutions are completely silent,” said López.
This official silence has created the type of void that social media scambots are designed to fill. As people seek resolution to their Chivo issues on social media, Twitter bots impersonating official Chivo customer support accounts and individual agents respond immediately to almost any post mentioning the wallet’s name, asking for many of the same details as the real accounts.
When I tweeted something with the word “Chivo” in it, bots with names like “Chivo Wallet Support” and “Chivo Support” were often the first to respond. The typical post consisted of a helpful offer followed by a suspicious link. Because these bogus accounts generally use the blue-and-white Chivo logo as their profile picture, it’s easy to see how some people might be perplexed.
Despite this, there appears to be little – if any – official warning from Chivo or the government about these scams and how to avoid them. Meanwhile, the official, Twitter-verified Chivo account’s communication strategy is incoherent, adding to confusion about who to contact if there are issues with the app.
While the official account appears to have responded to some individual requests for assistance with the wallet in recent months, it hasn’t updated its page with an original status since November 3.
There are more questions than answers
Despite reaching out to a number of relevant government entities and startups for comment on Chivo’s issues, The Block was unable to reach any officials or companies who could explain why people are reporting so many issues with the wallet.
When I called the Chivo international customer service line, I was greeted by a friendly agent who informed me that they were not authorized to share any information and directed me to the local El Salvador embassy. An agent from El Salvador’s consumer protection office referred me to the country’s Superintendent of the Financial System. I contacted that agency via WhatsApp and received a press contact, but I did not receive a response via email. El Salvador’s Casa Presidencial press email also did not respond to an inquiry.
Despite all reports of the wallet not working, The Block was unable to locate any prominent, official public warnings about the fake Chivo Twitter bots and Facebook accounts.
It wasn’t always this way; in fact, the government used to be much more open about Chivo. In the beginning, Bukele not only acknowledged Chivo’s problems, but also acted as IT support as he diligently updated his Twitter followers, who now number 3.4 million.
On September 8, Bukele informed his followers that Chivo had completed a maintenance process that had resulted in a few hours of downtime, and he even encouraged people who were experiencing ongoing issues to post them in the comments section of his thread and to fill out this form. A few days later, Bukele tweeted that 95 percent of the issues with Chivo had been resolved and that the app would be fully operational within the next few days.
The wallet’s only recent official social media activity has been the announcement of a new company’s involvement with Chivo — Los Angeles-based digital identity provider, Netki. Bukele shared a CoinTelegraph article that quoted a January 19 press release: “Through the use of Netki’s flagship KYC/AML product, OnboardID, the Salvadoran government was able to onboard over four million users onto its Chivo Wallet within 45 days, while protecting the wallet from attempted airdrop fraud.”
Netki’s founder and COO, Dawn Newton, told The Block on January 26 that the company began working with Chivo “recently” and that its technology is present in all versions of the Chivo app. “However, we were not included in the initial application,” she explained.
“We have read public reports of issues that arose before we were fully engaged with the project,” Newton responded to a question about blocked accounts and unauthorized use of credentials. “If you have any questions about this, please contact the Chivo team. Our tools are designed specifically to address these types of issues.” Newton also stated that Netki has no control over blocking users’ wallets.
On December 17, El Faro also mentioned that a New York-based company called AlphaPoint had posted several types of engineering positions on a website with the headline: “Build Bitcoin City: We’re Hiring in Central America.”
According to the website: “AlphaPoint is excited to announce our collaboration with the Government of El Salvador and the Chivo platform – the country’s first national cryptocurrency wallet. We are actively seeking candidates for several positions that will work on this game-changing technology with our team, the El Salvadorian government, and various partners on the ground.”
Other major companies that have publicly stated their involvement with the Chivo app have not provided clear answers as to why the wallet has been plagued by so many problems.
Athena Bitcoin, the company that created key technology for the Chivo wallet app and also owns and operates the country’s 200 Chivo-branded ATMs, did not respond to a December 20 inquiry about these Chivo issues. Athena recently stated that it intends to package the Chivo concept into a product that other governments and institutions can use.
However, in response to a January 26 inquiry, an Athena spokesperson directed questions to the company mentioned in Chivo’s terms and conditions, Chivo S.A. de C.V. “Chivo SA fully controls the usage, technical direction, and management of the Chivo wallet, as well as handling support for all related issues,” they stated. “It’s probably best if you contact Chivo SA for more information.”
Little is known about Chivo S.A., except that it is a private entity that owns the Chivo app, according to the local media outlet El Faro.
Bitso, a Latin America-focused crypto exchange that previously told The Block that it is in charge of “custody services providing storage and security services for the Chivo wallet, as well as exchange services,” did not respond to questions about reported Chivo issues such as unauthorized transactions and difficulties transferring to other wallets.
“I spoke with the Bitso team, and they are unable to comment at this time because they are not a front-end technology provider for the Chivo Wallet,” a Bitso spokesperson told The Block on December 23. Koibanx, based in Buenos Aires and responsible for Chivo’s Lightning Network implementation, did not respond by press time.
BitGo, which according to Forbes is Chivo’s hot wallet provider, did not respond to a request for comment either. Chivo appears to be inconsistent for the time being, with several outstanding issues. To be fair, it’s not the first or last financial app to have bugs, and it won’t be the last. However, the lack of prompt resolutions remains a concern, particularly for those who are unable to access their balances in the app.
Some Salvadorans I spoke with said they would keep trying to contact Chivo customer service representatives, while others said they had given up trying to resolve their problems. Some have taken more direct action: a group in the United States recently launched a Chivo boycott, though its Twitter following is still small.
Many people are still using social media to shout into the void. “Mr. President, let us begin at the beginning,” tweeted Rudy Parada in early January. “The Chivo Wallet needs to be fixed; there are so many people complaining about it, and no one is doing anything about it.” Come on, let’s go!
