Salvadoran Court of Accounts to Investigate Government’s Bitcoin ATM Buys, Chivo Kiosk Construction

According to reports stemming from the Salvadoran Court of Accounts, the regulatory body is planning to investigate the government’s bitcoin automated teller machine (ATM) purchases and Chivo kiosk construction. The investigation follows the recent protest in El Salvador against the adoption of bitcoin as the crowd set fire to a bitcoin ATM.

On September 15, a large group of protestors took to the streets in San Salvador to protest the new bitcoin law implemented by Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele. It’s not the first time protests against the law have happened, but this time around a bitcoin ATM was set ablaze. Following the protest, El Salvador’s Court of Accounts is looking into a complaint about the Bukele regime’s bitcoin ATM buys and kiosk construction. A document was witnessed by Reuters staff and the complaint was filed by a human rights and transparency organization called Cristosal.



The complaint Cristosal filed with the Salvadoran Court of Accounts is against six Board of Directors members of the Bitcóin Trust. Furthermore, the complaint is also against the Salvadoran secretariat of Commerce and Investments and members of the Finance and Economy ministries.

The Human Rights Foundation’s (HRF) chief strategy officer Alex Gladstein discusses the pros and cons tied to the new bitcoin legal tender law. The HRF representative Gladstein’s entire Twitter thread on the subject can be read here.

The Court of Accounts (CoA) says the complaint was received on September 10, five days before the protest and torched ATM. The CoA can impose sanctions against Salvadoran government officials. Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele has been called a dictator and has been investigated before.

For instance, in May Bukele’s New Ideas Party fired several Supreme Court members and the attorney general. Twenty government institutions linked to the Bukele administration were under investigation for manipulation and corruption. He then fired all those who were involved in the investigation. The news publication El Faro also accused Bukele of secretly negotiating a deal with Mara Salvatrucha, the most powerful gang in El Salvador. The latest investigation stemming from the CoA and Cristosal notes that an analysis of the bitcoin situation will take place.

Salvadoran president Nayib Bukele is considered a “dictator” and has been referred to in that way by many global leaders and news outlets. Bukele has been accused of being friendly with the largest Salvadoran gang Mara Salvatrucha and members of Bukele’s family were recently accused of planning to launch a stablecoin.

“Having admitted the complaint, it will proceed to carry out the legal analysis report and, in a timely manner, forward such report to the General Audit Coordination,” the CoA document reviewed by Reuters notes. The news outlet detailed that an unnamed source from Cristosal says that the complaint written to the CoA “has been accepted.” Moreover, the CoA has the power to start criminal proceedings if the investigation into the bitcoin ATM purchases and kiosk construction uncovers suspicious elements.

What do you think about Cristosal’s complaint and the CoA starting an investigation into the Bukele regime’s bitcoin affairs? Let us know what you think about this situation in the comments section below.