Everyday Bitcoin payments have largely faded in El Zonte, the coastal community known as Bitcoin Beach that helped inspire El Salvador’s national Bitcoin policy. Bitcoin Core contributor Jon Atack, who has lived in the country since 2022, reported on Aug. 23 that a local restaurant said his lunch bill was its first Bitcoin payment of the month; staff described payments that were once common as practically non-existent, with almost every customer now using cards, and a worker declined a tip in satoshis after forgetting how to use her Bitcoin app. Atack framed the encounter as anecdotal, not proof of national activity, while another visitor said she had recently paid with Bitcoin and still saw acceptance signs. National polling already pointed to weaker use: a Universidad Centroamericana survey found only 8.1% of Salvadorans used Bitcoin for purchases in 2024, down from 25.7% in 2021, 21% in 2022 and 12% in 2023, and a Universidad Francisco Gavidia survey found 7.5% used it while 92% did not. El Salvador made Bitcoin legal tender in 2021, then made private-sector acceptance voluntary and required taxes in U.S. dollars under a February 2025 IMF Extended Fund Facility, removing the state’s conversion guarantee. Apparent government wallet increases remain separate from retail use; IMF documents state public holdings were unchanged after program approval. Updated merchant data, a new usage survey and the Chivo divestment process will shape what comes next.