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Salvadoran President, Nayib Bukele speaks during an event in May 2021. El Salvador become the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender in June.

Camilo Freedman | SOPA Images | LightRocket | Getty Images

It has been more than a year since El Salvador made history by becoming the first country to make bitcoin legal tender, and so far, 37-year-old resident Edgardo Acevedo has found the nationwide crypto experiment to be relatively anticlimactic.

“I don’t think anything has changed, except that the country is more recognized than before, but the economic life of Salvadorans remains the same or worse than a few years ago,” said Acevedo, a development engineer working in the capital city of San Salvador.

Acevedo, who is also known by the pseudonym Ishi Kawa, tells CNBC that while bitcoin has become a topic of conversation, adoption remains low, and he has personally found that there are very few businesses that accept the world’s biggest cryptocurrency — and even fewer Salvadorans who wish to pay in the digital token.

“What has improved is the issue of violence and crime, but economically, I can say that nothing has changed,” he said.

It has been a rocky time, with the project not living up to the grand promises made by the country’s popular and outspoken president Nayib Bukele.

The use of bitcoin in El Salvador appears to be low, as the currency has lost about 60% of its value since the experiment started and the country still faces plummeting economic growth and a high deficit. El Salvador’s debt-to-GDP ratio — a key metric used to compare what a country owes with what it generates — is set to hit nearly 87% this year, stoking fears that the nation isn’t equipped to settle its loan obligations.

Data from Bloomberg Economics shows that El Salvador tops its ranking of emerging market countries that are vulnerable to a debt default. Even as it retires some of its outstanding debts, the country’s domestic and multilateral loan obligations pose a real threat, in part because the world’s biggest lenders aren’t too keen to give cash to a country betting its future on one of the most volatile assets on the planet.

Pair these economic woes with a renewed war on gang violence and the country is barreling toward uncertainty.

“The government claims the developments as a success, but most local commentators and international watchers are underwhelmed,” Rachel Ziemba, founder of Ziemba Insights, told CNBC.

El Salvador's new bitcoin wallet could totally disrupt the remittance process

Bitcoin uptake appears low

When El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law came into effect Sept. 7, 2021, Jaime Garcia was hopeful that it would fix a few big problems with the way that Salvadorans send, receive and spend money.

As part of the law, prices are now sometimes listed in bitcoin, tax contributions can be paid with the digital currency, and exchanges in bitcoin will not be subject to capital gains tax. But crucially, Bukele promoted the law as a way to expand financial inclusion — which is no small thing for a country where approximately 70% of the population does not have access to traditional financial services, according to the Bitcoin Law.

To help facilitate national adoption, El Salvador launched a virtual wallet called “chivo” (Salvadoran slang for “cool”) that offers no-fee transactions, allows for quick cross-border payments, and requires only a mobile phone plus an internet connection. It aimed to bring users onboard quickly, both to scale bitcoin adoption and to offer a convenient onramp for those who had never been a part of the banking system.

Bukele tweeted in January that about 60% of the population, or 4 million people, used the chivo app, and more Salvadorans have chivo wallets than traditional bank accounts, according to a Sept. 20 research note from Deutsche Bank. Still, only 64.6% of the country has access to a mobile phone with internet, that note says.

But a report published in April by the U.S. National Bureau of Economic Research showed that only 20% of those who downloaded the wallet continued to use it after spending the $30 bonus. The research was based upon a “nationally representative survey” involving 1,800 households.

Garcia, who lives in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan, fled El Salvador when he was 11 after rebels bombed his house, but he keeps in close touch with family and friends who stayed behind — and he sometimes sends money back home, too.

“There are pockets where bitcoin is popular, like in El Zonte, but it’s clear that adoption is not massive,” said Garcia.

“Big chains like McDonald’s, Starbucks, and most merchants at a mall will accept bitcoin — but are people using it? Not too much locally,” he said. “It’s mostly tourists using bitcoin.”

A survey by the El Salvador-based El Instituto de Opinion Publica, a public opinion think tank, found that 7 in 10 Salvadorans do not think the Bitcoin Law has benefited their family economy.

Another survey by the institute found that 76 out of 100 small and medium-size enterprises in El Salvador do not accept bitcoin payments.

“Bitcoin’s first year in effect has transcended from a commercial expectation to an irrelevant topic for traders,” said Laura Andrade, director of El Salvador’s Universidad Centroamericana, according to a CNBC translation of her Spanish-language comments.

Andrade said many large corporations are still advertising that they’re taking payments in bitcoin but are making excuses to not accept the cryptocurrency including saying their system does not work or the bitcoin wallet is out of service.

“The foregoing is evidence that this cryptocurrency, in reality, never had penetration in national commerce,” Andrade said.

“There seems to be evidence that most people used it primarily to get the free money from the government but have not used it on an ongoing basis given volatility and fees,” Ziemba said.

Meanwhile, those who did use the government’s crypto wallet reportedly had technical problems with the app. Other Salvadorans fell prey to schemes involving identity theft, in which hackers used their national ID number to open a chivo e-wallet, in order to claim the free $30 worth of bitcoin offered by the government as an incentive to join.

A survey published in March by the Chamber of Commerce and Industry of El Salvador found that 86% of businesses have never made a sale in bitcoin, and only 20% of businesses take bitcoin, despite the Law’s mandate that all merchants accept the cryptocurrency.

“They gave people the wallets, they forced businesses to accept them, but essentially, in my opinion, it’s a big nothing burger,” said Frank Muci, a policy fellow at the London School of Economics, who has experience advising governments in Latin America. “Nobody really uses the app to pay in bitcoin. People that do use it, mostly use it for dollars.”

The experiment also involved building a nationwide infrastructure of bitcoin ATMs, but they’re too far away for many people to use.

Another hope for the chivo wallet was that it would help save hundreds of millions of dollars in remittance fees. Remittances, or money sent home by migrants, account for more than 20% of El Salvador’s gross domestic product, and some households receive over 60% of their income from this source alone. Incumbent services can charge 10% or more in fees for those international transfers, which can sometimes take days to arrive and require a physical pickup.

But in 2022, recent data shows that only 1.6% of remittances were sent to El Salvador via digital wallets. According to the Deutsche Bank report from September, part of the reason bitcoin transfers haven’t caught on has to do with the complications of buying and selling bitcoin for dollars. The report notes that “people who send and receive remittances frequently use informal brokers to convert local currency to and from bitcoin” and extremely volatile prices make buying and selling the cryptocurrency a complex task requiring technical know-how.

“This is a new money, a new way of doing things for a population that is very comfortable with dollars. This is a population that is largely unbanked and would rather deal with hard cash that they can see and feel,” Garcia said.

Miles Suter, the crypto product lead at Cash App, told CNBC on a panel at the Messari Mainnet conference in New York that the government’s 90-day rollout of the chivo wallet and nationwide adoption of bitcoin was “rushed” and that there are still a lot of problems.

“You shouldn’t mandate the acceptance of a specific currency,” said Suter, who spent six months in El Salvador in the runup to the passing of the Bitcoin Law. However, Suter added that the media perception is worse than how things are actually going on the ground.

“I saw and experienced lives being changed by having access to a new emerging monetary standard,” he said.

A look at El Salvador's crypto experiment after making bitcoin its national currency

‘Sleepwalking into a debt default’

Well before Bukele wagered that bitcoin would bandage over longstanding economic vulnerabilities, the country was in a lot of trouble.

The World Bank projects that the Salvadoran economy will grow by 2.9% this year and 1.9% in 2023, down from 10.7% in 2021. But that growth itself was a bounce-back from an 8.6% contraction in 2020.

Its debt-to-GDP ratio is almost 90%, and its debt is expensive at around 5% per year versus 1.5% in the U.S. The country also has a massive deficit — with no plans to reduce it, whether through tax hikes or by substantially cutting spending.

In a research note from JPMorgan, analysts warn that El Salvador’s eurobonds have entered “distressed territory” in the last year, and S&P Global data reportedly shows that the cost to insure against a sovereign debt default is hitting multiyear highs.

Both JPMorgan and the International Monetary Fund warn the country is on an unsustainable path, with gross financing needs set to surpass 15% of GDP from 2022 forward — and public debt on track to hit 96% of GDP by 2026 under current policies.

El Salvador faces a heavy mix of multilateral and domestic debts, including imminent debt repayment deadlines in the billions of dollars, such as an $800 million eurobond that matures in January.

“The domestic debt is very large, relatively short duration and needs to be rolled over frequently,” said Muci, who previously worked at the Growth Lab at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

El Salvador has been trying since early 2021 to secure a $1.3 billion loan from the IMF — an effort that appears to have soured over Bukele’s refusal to heed the organization’s advice to ditch bitcoin as legal tender.

Rating agencies, including Fitch, have knocked down El Salvador’s credit score, citing the uncertainty of the country’s financial future given the adoption of bitcoin as legal tender. That means that it’s now even more expensive for Bukele to borrow much-needed cash.

Beyond the fact that global lenders don’t want to throw money at a country that is spending millions in tax dollars on a cryptocurrency whose price is prone to extreme volatility, the IMF’s largest shareholder, the U.S., is targeting Salvadoran officials as part of wider international sanctions against “corrupt actors.”

The president’s efforts to consolidate power have also driven up this risk premium for global lenders.

Bukele’s New Ideas party has control over the country’s Legislative Assembly. In 2021, the new assembly came under fire after it ousted the attorney general and top judges. The move prompted the U.S. Agency for International Development to pull aid from El Salvador’s national police and a public information institute and reroute the funds to civil society groups.

Additionally, El Salvador can’t print cash to shore up its finances. El Salvador ditched its local currency, the colon, in favor of the U.S. dollar. Only the Federal Reserve can print more dollars. Meanwhile, its other national currency, bitcoin, is revered for the fact that it, too, is impossible to mint out of thin air.

“One of the big issues has been the fact that the bitcoin gimmick has distracted from the fiscal and economic challenges of the country and made it more difficult for the country to access IFI lending and preferential terms,” Ziemba said.

Ziemba added that there have been some swaps with major crypto firms that allowed the country to raise cash to pay off the debt due this year, and perhaps early next year, but the long-term debt sustainability remains a challenge.

“They’ve spooked the bejesus out of financial markets and the IMF,” said Muci, who tells CNBC that nobody wants to lend money to Bukele unless it’s at “eye-gouging rates” of 20% to 25%.

“The country is sleepwalking into a debt default,” Muci said.

El Salvador is using volcano power to mine bitcoin

Tourism and presidential popularity solid

On the day the Bitcoin Law took effect, Bukele revealed that the country had begun to add bitcoin to government coffers. Since then, the price of the cryptocurrency has plunged more than 60%, stoked by rising interest rates and failed projects and bankruptcies in the industry.

The government has an unrealized paper loss on bitcoin of around $60 million. None of these losses are locked in until the country exits its bitcoin position.

In aggregate, the entire experiment and all its associated costs have only set the government back around $375 million, according to estimates. That’s not nothing — especially considering the fact that El Salvador has $7.7 billion of bonds outstanding — but to an economy of $29 billion, it is comparatively small.

El Salvador’s millennial, tech-savvy president — who once touted himself as the “world’s coolest dictator” on his Twitter bio — has tethered his political fate to the country’s crypto gamble, so he has a very big incentive to make it work in the long run and to pay off the country’s debt in the interim. Bukele faces reelection for another five-year presidential term in 2024.

At least El Salvador’s big bitcoin gamble has been a win in terms of attracting bitcoin tourists.

The tourism industry is up 30% since the Bitcoin Law took effect, according to official government estimates. The country’s tourism minister also notes that 60% of tourists now come from the U.S.

The bitcoin experiment hasn’t hurt the president’s popularity either. Bukele’s approval ratings are north of 85% — thanks in large part to his tough-on-crime approach to leading. That’s no small thing to a country that was more dangerous per capita than Afghanistan five years ago.

Suter said the project has also introduced many locals to the concept of savings, noting that before the Bitcoin Law, much of the population didn’t have a way to digitally hold their money and transact among one another.

“It was all cash — and the cash that you earned that week, you typically spent it, because there wasn’t much ability to dream of growing it through investment.”

How bitcoin's mining activity could point to a bottom for the cryptocurrency

The president upped the ante in November when he announced plans to build a “Bitcoin City” next door to the Conchagua volcano in southeastern El Salvador. The bitcoin-funded city would offer significant tax relief, and geothermal energy rolling off the adjacent volcano would power bitcoin miners.

But now, Bitcoin City is on hold, as is the $1 billion bitcoin bond sale, which was initially put on ice in March because of unfavorable market conditions.

“Ultimately, El Salvador’s problems are just tangential to currency,” Muci said.

“The plane is gonna crash eventually, if they don’t change things,” he said — “if they don’t raise taxes, cut spending, start being much more disciplined, convincing markets that they’re sustainable.”

“Bitcoin doesn’t solve any of El Salvador’s important economic problems,” he added.

Bitcoin falls below $19,000 as Ethereum upgrade kicks into full gear

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EcoFlow Mega Sale takes 65% off power stations + new flash sale lows, Aventon e-bikes $700 off, Husqvarna tools, more

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April 4, 2025

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EcoFlow Mega Sale takes 65% off power stations + new flash sale lows, Aventon e-bikes 0 off, Husqvarna tools, more

We’re closing out this week’s Green Deals with a double-feature from EcoFlow, as the brand has launched its Members’ Mega Sale (AKA its Members’ Festival) that is running parallel to its ongoing Easter Sale with a fresh batch of offers at up to 65% off, like the DELTA Pro 3 Portable Power Station that is hitting $2,799, among others – all complete with bonus savings and rewards. On top of the initial sale, the brand is also giving us two short-term flash savings to new low prices on the RIVER 2 Pro Portable Power Station for $349 and dual DELTA Pro Smart Extra Batteries for $2,899. Aventon’s Spring Into Motion Sale getting extended, with the Abound Cargo e-bike down at $1,599, as well as its legacy discounts and a full list of its latest smart models. Lastly, we have a roundup of Husqvarna lawn care equipment seeing discounts, like the 40V 24-inch Hedge Master 320iHD60 Cordless Electric Hedge Trimmer at $270. Plus, all the other hangover Green Deals are in the links at the bottom of the page, like yesterday’s Lectric April Showers e-bike sale, Jackery’s flash offers, and more.

Head below for other New Green Deals we’ve found today and, of course, Electrek’s best EV buying and leasing deals. Also, check out the new Electrek Tesla Shop for the best deals on Tesla accessories.

EcoFlow Members’ Mega Sale takes 65% off additional units alongside Easter Sale offers – starting from $113

Running parallel to its ongoing Easter Sale, EcoFlow is adding some additional deals to the mix in an alternate Members’ Mega Sale through April 14 with up to 65% discounts across the lineup. Among the new offers, one that caught our eye was the newer DELTA Pro 3 Portable Power Station which has dropped down to $2,799 shipped in both sales. Normally carrying a $3,699 price tag outside of sales, the lowest we’ve seen discounts drop the costs was (without bonus savings) $2,899 in last month’s limited Spring Sale flash offers, with it going to $2,999 for Black Friday before that. Today though, we’re looking at the lowest initial price cut direct from the brand as $900 is struck from the tag, with it even matching at Amazon.

As with the case of its Easter Sale, the Members’ Mega Sale is offering the same bonus savings – all you have to do is become a member (free sign-up) before making your purchase. Let’s do a quick rundown on what you can score afterwards: a free Power Hat ($129 value) on orders over $500 or two 125W solar panels ($499 value) on orders over $3,000. You’ll also score 800 EcoCredits upon member sign-up, as well as an extra 500 for each order placed – plus, 3x the EcoCredits from purchases for standard members and 3.5x EcoCredits for Plus members. On top of all this, you can redeem already collected EcoCredits to cut 5% in additional savings from your cart’s total at checkout.

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One of the EcoFlow’s newer power stations, the DELTA Pro 3 starts off with a 4,096Wh LiFePO4 capacity that you can further bolster upwards to as high as 48,000Wh. Likewise, its starting 4,000W of output power (which surges to 6,000W) will also expand with additional equipment up to 12,000W – particularly when three power stations have been connected together. Unlike the other units under the brand’s flag, this one boasts a massive array of recharging methods: seven solo-source options and 18 combination options. Plugging it into a standard wall outlet, for example, fills you back to an 80% battery in 50 minutes, or you could take advantage of the 2,600W max solar input, EV charging, cigarette outlets in cars, dual PV charging, and much more.

There are 14 output port options to cover all your devices and appliances, one of which happens to be a TT-30R port to cover RV needs too – with you able to monitor and adjust settings and performance through the smart controls via the companion app. It’s one of the few models that’s been given the brand’s X-Core 3.0 tech, providing superior host safety, performance, and intelligence improvement. It also allows for its surging power output to climb higher for more demanding appliances while also increasing charging speeds, lessening noise and temperatures, improving the battery management system, and extending its overall lifespan – you can charge and recharge it every day for nearly 11 years, which means with less use it’ll last you many more beyond.

EcoFlow’s other DELTA Pro 3 Mega Sale deals:

EcoFlow’s Members-only Mega Sale deals:

EcoFlow’s Mega Sale hot bundles:

EcoFlow’s Mega Sale refurbished deals (use code MEM5OFF at checkout)

As mentioned before, EcoFlow’s Members’ Mega Sale is running alongside its counterpart sale through April 14, so if you don’t see anything in the offers above, be sure to head over to our Easter Sale coverage to get a look at the full array of deals. You can also currently find the brand’s new RIVER 3 Plus 286Wh LiFePO4 Power Station at a new $189 low at Amazon right now too. 

EcoFlow RIVER 2 Pro Portable Power Station

EcoFlow flash sale takes 48% off two units, with the RIVER 2 Pro 768Wh LiFePO4 power station at new $349 low

As part of its Easter Sale and the parallel Members’ Mega Sale, EcoFlow has launched the first of its limited flash sale offers that are taking up to 48% off two units. The first of these is the RIVER 2 Pro Portable Power Station that is down at $349 shipped. Normally going for $599 at full price, we’ve seen it come down as low as $359, first as part of last month’s Spring Sale and continuing through these two new sales running through April 14. The limited-time flash savings here today, though, are taking an additional $10 off the discounted rate for a total of $250 in savings at a new all-time low price.

On the larger end of EcoFlow’s RIVER series, the RIVER 2 Pro is a compact backup solution that supports you through short-term needs for campsites, road trips, and the like, with a 768Wh LiFePO4 capacity. It outputs up to 1,600W of power through its eight port options, all thanks to the X-boost tech inclusion that allows it to “run 80% of home appliances.” Last minute travel plans are far easier here too, as it can recharge in just 70 minutes with a wall outlet, alongside USB-C and car port options too. You can connect up to a maximum 220W solar input, putting it back at full via the sun’s rays in 3.5 to 4.5 hours.

The second of these offers gives you two DELTA Pro Smart Extra (expansion) Batteries for $2,899 shipped. Normally just one of these batteries at full price runs you $2,799, with the current sales’ pricing dropping things to $1,599, making this quite the steal if you’ve been wanting to expand your existing DELTA Pro setup closer to its max 25kWh capacity.

Be sure to check out the full lineup of EcoFlow’s Easter Sale deals, as well as the newly added Members’ Mega Sale deals that are both running through April 14 – with both offering bonus savings, free gear, and more.

Aventon Abound Cargo e-bike

Aventon’s extended Spring Sale gives you the cargo-hauling Abound e-bike at $1,599

Aventon has extended its Spring Into Motion sale through April 16 with up to $700 in savings off its lineup of e-bikes while also making room for its large selection of new smart models. Among the bunch, the brand’s Abound Cargo e-bike is down at $1,599 shipped. Normally you’d have to shell out $1,999 for this model, though its been more consistently keeping at $1,799 during sales since May 2024, which was also the last time we saw it brought down to $1,599. You’ll be saving $400 off the going rate here, with the option to upgrade to its newest generations, the Abound SR smart e-bike for $100 more or the Abound LR smart e-bike for $200 more, with the difference between them being the latter’s seven-inch longer cargo space with a lockable onboard storage bag and 8-pound heavier chassis.

Since its release in 2023, Aventon’s Abound Cargo e-bike has been quite the popular model. It comes with a 750W rear hub motor that peaks at 1,200W to tackle inclines and increase its cargo-hauling potential, as well as a 678.2Wh integrated battery – the combination of which provides you with top speeds of 20 MPH for up to 50 miles of travel when its four PAS levels (supported by a torque sensor) are activated. Of course, there’s also the pure electric riding option via the throttle, though you should take into consideration that this will shorten its travel range.

It comes along with plenty of solid features too, including a front suspension fork, hydraulic brakes, integrated front and rear lights with turn signal functionality, fenders over both tires, the integrated rear cargo rack with a 143-pound payload, a Shimano 7-speed derailleur, a kickstand, a storage bag, and an LCD Smart “Easy Read” display.

Aventon’s Spring Into Motion sale legacy e-bike deals:

Aventon’s newest e-bike models (no price cuts):

  • Soltera 2.5 Lightweight e-bike: $1,199
    • 20 MPH for up to 46 miles
  • Sinch 2.5 Compact Folding e-bike: $1,799
    • 20 MPH for up to 55 miles
  • Abound SR Cargo e-bike: $1,899
    • 20 MPH for up to 60 miles
    • GPS tracking, remote locking, geofencing, passcode, keyless battery, alarm system, more
  • Level 3 Smart Step-Over Commuter e-bike: $1,899
    • 20 MPH for up to 70 miles
    • GPS tracking, auto-lock, unusual movement detection, alarm system, more
  • Level 3 Smart Step-Through Commuter e-bike: $1,899
    • 20 MPH for up to 70 miles
    • GPS tracking, auto-lock, unusual movement detection, alarm system, more
  • Abound LR Cargo e-bike: $1,999
    • 20 MPH for up to 60 miles
    • 6 inches longer, 8 pounds heavier, with lockable onboard storage over SR model
    • GPS tracking, remote locking, geofencing, passcode, keyless battery, alarm system, more
Husqvarna 40V 24-inch Hedge Master 320iHD60 cordless electric hedge trimmer

Tackle heavy-duty trimmer jobs with Husqvarna’s 40V 24-inch Hedge Master 320iHD60 at $270

Amazon is now offering the Husqvarna 40V 24-inch Hedge Master 320iHD60 Cordless Electric Hedge Trimmer for $269.99 shipped. Brought down off its usual $320 price tag, this hedge trimmer is among the few electric models from under Husqvarna’s that see more regular discounts, whereas many others often only see seasonal sales pricing, like for Black Friday, Christmas, and the like. While we’ve seen this particular bundle with the battery and charger fall as low as $223 back during October’s Prime Day, you’re still looking at a solid $50 price cut down among some of its lowest rates. If you already own an appropriate battery/charger, you can score the hedge trimmer by itself for $200.

Husqvarna’s Hedge Master 320iHD60 has been equipped with a high-torque brushless motor for “increased efficiency, increased reliability, reduced noise and longer product life.” It provides you with a 24-inch reach, with your comfort taken into mind via the tri-handle grips that allow for easier heavy-duty jobs on top of longer-spanning usage. Its blades are able to handle cutting through branches up to 1-inch thick, with an un-jam button that opens the blades up for easier clearing should the unexpected happen. You can extend runtimes by using any of the brand’s interchangeable 40V batteries here too, or use the included battery in the bundle with alternative equipment you may have.

Other Husqvarna electric lawn care discounts:

Husqvarna Combi Switch/attachment discounts:

Best New Year EV deals!

Best new Green Deals landing this week

The savings this week are also continuing to a collection of other markdowns. To the same tune as the offers above, these all help you take a more energy-conscious approach to your routine. Winter means you can lock in even better off-season price cuts on electric tools for the lawn while saving on EVs and tons of other gear.

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Affirm heads for second-worst week on record on tariff worries, Klarna delayed IPO

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April 4, 2025

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Affirm heads for second-worst week on record on tariff worries, Klarna delayed IPO

Igor Golovniov | SOPA Images | Lightrocket | Getty Images

Affirm shares have plunged nearly 30% in the past two trading days and are on track to close out their second-worst week on record, following President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariff announcement on Wednesday.

Widespread tariffs could represent a particular problem for Affirm, because the provider of buy now, pay later loans is reliant on consumer spending, and economists expect prices to rise on all sorts of goods. The news got worse on Friday when Affirm rival Klarna delayed its long-anticipated IPO due to market volatility.

Klarna had planned to debut on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker KLAR, targeting a valuation around $15 billion. Affirm’s market cap is now $11 billion. Klarna reported $2.81 billion in revenue last year, which is about what Affirm generated over the past four quarters.

In addition to Klarna, ticketing marketplace StubHub hit pause on its share sale, raising concerns that the IPO market’s expected rebound won’t be taking place anytime soon. The Nasdaq is down more than 9% this week, headed for its steepest drop since the early days of the Covid pandemic in 2020.

Read more about tech and crypto from CNBC Pro

The setbacks mark a sharp turn for the BNPL sector, which had Wall Street excited towards the tail end of 2024. Affirm shares soared 60% in November, the month Trump was elected. Jack Dorsey’s Block, which owns BNPL provider Afterpay, jumped 22% that month, but is down 9% this week.

James Friedman, an analyst at SIG, noted Affirm’s exposure to fashion, beauty, and travel, which are often hit hardest when consumers retreat. Roughly 42% of Affirm’s transactions are in general merchandise, with fashion and travel combining for another quarter of volume.

A spokesperson for Affirm declined to comment on Klarna’s delayed listing.

Regarding market volatility, the spokesperson said the adoption of products like Affirm, which offer more flexible options than credit cards, “is a secular and enduring trend across market cycles.”

“We underwrite every transaction before making a real-time credit decision and enable consumers to pay over time without any late or hidden fees,” Affirm said.

WATCH: Affirm CEO: We’re a replacement for credit cards, not debit cards

Affirm CEO: We're a replacement for credit cards, not debit cards

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Porsche Cayenne EV spotted in the US with a new look

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April 4, 2025

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Porsche Cayenne EV spotted in the US with a new look

Porsche-Cayenne-EV-Coupe-US

The electric SUV will finally be here later this year. With its highly anticipated debut just around the corner, the Porsche Cayenne EV was caught in a parking lot in the US with a sleek new design.

Porsche Cayenne EV coupe is testing in the US

After launching its second electric vehicle, the Macan EV, last year, Porsche will add its third later this year. Although the luxury automaker shifted plans with a new lineup of plug-in hybrid (PHEV) and gas-powered cars on the way, Porsche confirmed the fourth-gen Cayenne will still go fully electric.

Porsche introduced major upgrades on its largest SUV in 2024, but CEO Oliver Blume promises the EV version will “set standards in the segment as an electric SUV.”

After the first electric Cayenne prototypes left the Porsche factory last year, we got a sneak peek of the SUV as it hit the streets for testing.

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You can see that the electric SUV retains the signature Porsche design but with a few upgrades to help it stand out as an EV.

Porsche Cayenne EV Coupe testing in the US (Source: KindelAuto)

After a new Cayenne EV model was spotted testing in the US, it looks like we will have two versions to choose from. The new image from KindelAuto reveals what appears to be the coupe variant with a more crossover-like design.

The coupe has a streamlined profile with a much lower roofline, adding to its already sporty design. Although more details will be revealed closer to launch, we know it will be based on the PPE platform, which underpins the current Macan EV and Audi Q6 e-Tron.

Porsche said the platform will receive “comprehensive” upgrades for the upcoming electric SUV. The Macan EV has an EPA-estimated range of 308 miles. On the European WLTP scale, it’s rated at 613 km (381 miles).

The Porsche Cayenne EV will debut later this year as a 2026 model. Porsche is also working on a larger ultra-luxury electric SUV, codenamed “K1” internally, slated to launch in 2027.

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