In El Salvador's bitcoin beach town, digital divide slows uptake

Bitcoin enthusiast Carlos Bonilla shows a Bitcoin coin at a Bitcoin beach support office at El Zonte Beach in Chiltiupan, El Salvador June 10, 2021. REUTERS/Jose Cabezas

PLAYA EL ZONTE (Reuters) - The El Salvadoran beach town of El Zonte is visibly poor, with dirt roads and a faulty drainage system. But in one way, it's ahead of the rest of the country: It has bitcoin.

The tropical surfing spot's basic infrastructure offers a glimpse of the potential pitfalls to popularizing bitcoin nationally for payments and savings, after Congress last Wednesday adopted the cryptocurrency as legal tender, a world first.