Four reasons why users should stay away from Chivo Wallet

Nearly three months after its launch, Chivo Wallet continues to have the same connectivity and interface issues and doesn’t allow users to verify and explore their bitcoin transactions to Salvadorans, reports specialist website CriptoNoticias.

The article explains that although foreigners have not used this wallet directly on their phones, they were able to verify that in some cases there were problems with its use in El Salvador, which created incentives not to use this wallet.

Here are the top four reasons not to recommend this cryptocurrency wallet:

Communication issues

According to the experience of the author of the article, on at least two occasions he encountered “serious problems” when making payments from other Bitcoin wallets to a Chivo point of sale.

“In restaurants, when sending bitcoins over the chain or via the Lightning Network, both our wallets and the Bitcoin network showed successful payment completion. However, the recipient’s Chivo wallet did not display said payments in their internal balance and transaction history, as well as in the POS devices running the app. Chivo, says the report which adds that this “caused unease among sellers, and possibly a sense of being cheated. Not to mention a waste of time.”

On another occasion, they tried to withdraw bitcoin from a Chivo ATM and although the deposit transaction was sent to the network, the machine did not recognize it.

Chivo wallet protect coins

On the other hand, “one of the most disappointing points” is that Chivo users cannot check bitcoin transactions directly on their network, as they rely on the Chivo server to know their history.

“This has to do with the fact that Chivo users are not custodians of their coins. Salvadorans who use Chivo do not have access to the private keys of their wallet, which means a risk of losing money as well as privacy, because they rely on the platform to learn important data, from their balances to the transaction history,” he points out. To CryptoNews.

This fact does not promote self-sovereignty over money and contrasts with the non-mediation and third-party elimination that Bitcoin proposes as a solution to financial problems that have plagued the world historically.

Modest user interface

If a Chivo wallet holds funds, the information should appear completely and transparent, at least. However, CriptoNoticias emphasizes that “this is not the case and the user interface is a barrier to prevent this from happening.”

For example, the transaction history only shows its amount and date, but not the time and other important details, such as the number of confirmations it got, or the identifier “on-chain” to check in a block browser.

Likewise, the option to receive transactions via Lightning, the instant Bitcoin payment solution, is somewhat hidden, presented under the Other Wallets tab, as in cases where the customer has a wallet other than Chivo.

Therefore, an on-chain transaction must be executed many times and subjected to the confirmation times of the bitcoin network that has its raison d’être, but takes at least 10 minutes. The app itself isn’t very intuitive or fully responsive, as it sometimes hangs and doesn’t allow you to press buttons properly.

Lack of education makes things worse

Looking at these events, the article posted on CriptoNoticias notes that it is understood that the Chivo wallet is not frequently used by Salvadorans to make payments, but more so for money transfers. However, this has fueled ignorance, not only about her work, but also about Bitcoin and, accordingly, skepticism and frustration.