El Salvador has launched a national application called Sivar, developed by Palo Alto-based Modveon and supported by Coinbase's payment infrastructure. The app verifies users' identities through government credentials, allowing remittances to be settled in stablecoins on Base; eligible U.S. senders can transfer to verified Salvadoran recipients, claiming a fixed fee of $2 regardless of the amount.

Coinbase states that the process involves funding via debit cards through Onramp, an in-app non-custodial wallet, and peer-to-peer transactions via its API, with recipients able to cash out at over 1,000 locations nationwide. More than 25,000 Salvadorans have pre-registered for the app. Defiant and others note that the $2 fee is for cross-border processing, separate from funding and withdrawal fees. The app also integrates identity verification, community grouping by geography or interest, government announcements, and municipal discussions into a single "verification operating system," marking Modveon's first nationwide deployment.

Remittances are projected to reach about $9 billion to nearly $10 billion by 2025, with approximately 92% coming from the U.S. After Bitcoin became legal tender in 2021, daily payments and remittances accounted for a very low usage rate, and the national wallet Chivo has been sold to private operators. Following a $1.4 billion arrangement with the International Monetary Fund in 2025, the government was forced to scale back its mandatory acceptance and official wallet role. Modveon's CEO stated that Bitcoin is still viewed as a reserve and store of value, while stablecoins facilitate faster and cheaper transfers; Bloomberg and others have characterized Sivar as the Bukele government's shift towards dollar-pegged stablecoins. However, El Salvador's Bitcoin office denied any government endorsement or plans to operate any Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, or stablecoin wallets, stating that claims of official support for Sivar are false.

Modveon is backed by Coinbase Ventures and claims to have signed a five-year government contract for an undisclosed amount. The legal status of Bitcoin as legal tender and the treasury's holdings have not been automatically canceled by this application.

In market mechanics, buyers are families in the U.S.-El Salvador corridor who are charged by traditional remittance services, while sellers are the fixed $2 fee plus on-chain settlement. Funds enter stablecoins like USDC from U.S. bank cards and are then cashed out in El Salvador; beneficiaries include Coinbase's Base throughput and Onramp processes, while remittance companies face pressure from proportional fees. The event driver is the app's launch, not the abolition of Bitcoin as legal tender.

The office denies appearing alongside the "national application" narrative, clarifying that the brand leverages the president and ID, while operational and wallet responsibilities are framed as private. The $2 fee targets corridor pricing, with volatility shifting from Bitcoin to dollar-pegged stablecoins, leaving the identity layer from the fiat experiment, not the payment layer.

Source: Public Information