Everyday Bitcoin use in El Salvador has weakened sharply, even as the country remains symbolically tied to crypto adoption. Jon Atack, a Bitcoin Core contributor living in the area, said staff at a restaurant in El Zonte told him his lunch was the venue’s only cryptocurrency payment over an entire month, with card payments now dominant and Bitcoin use described as practically nonexistent. Analysts link the retreat to a HODL mindset and price volatility that make spending coins feel counter-economic, while IMF-linked reforms made merchant acceptance voluntary. National surveys had already shown payment use falling to 8.1% in 2024. An IMF review separately found the public sector’s Bitcoin stock unchanged since the loan program was approved, with apparent growth from wallet transfers rather than new buys and purchases stopping in February 2025, a finding President Nayib Bukele disputed. Some visitors still report successful Bitcoin payments in the area, underscoring a gap between pioneering legislation, reserve rhetoric, and thin retail checkout activity.