El Salvador Speeds into the Unknown
First impressions at the dawn of a Bitcoin Nation
In eight days, El Salvador will become the world’s first nation that recognizes Bitcoin as legal tender, but you would never guess it from walking around and chatting with locals.
I arrived in San Salvador, the capital, a week ago expecting something different from what I’ve seen. I’m a longtime advocate of Bitcoin and have spent much of my adult life in Latin America. I’ve always thought of Bitcoin as a social movement rather than a technology and have been so attracted to Latin America over the years in large part because of the bad-ass social movements here. I was as surprised as anyone this June when President Bukele announced legislation to make Bitcoin legal tender in El Salvador, but there was a certain logic to it. Of course the first Bitcoin nation would be small and it would happen someplace where the risk/ reward is tilted most heavily toward the latter. The only surprise was that it was from the top — I would have expected it to be led from the streets, not the presidential palace.
In San Salvador, almost no one knows anything about Bitcoin, though most have an opinion that ranges somewhere between curiosity and hostility — which seems to be based on how much they like the president and their openness to new technology. Delivery drivers clustered around their idling motorbikes at intersections downtown mostly seem positive on it, while owners of more traditional businesses, like the paper shops that sell supplies and copies, are often hostile. In a few days of walking around, I never saw a single sign of anything Bitcoin-related — this is in the capital little more than a week before it becomes legal tender. Then I came to El Zonte — Bitcoin Beach.
This is the coastal village that sparked it all. Two years ago, an ambitious project and anonymous donor put El Zonte on the map. This is the town where Bitcoin is widely accepted and not just lives but thrives. It was the example that proved it was possible.
I expected a flurry of activity surrounding the world’s first cryptocurrency and a town that fully embraced the digital currency. I saw neither.
About half the shops don’t accept Bitcoin and most foreigners are here to surf, not change the world.
I expected to find dreamers and builders. Long-term Bitcoiners inspired to quit their jobs and move into the unknown to push forward an emerging Bitcoin world. What I found instead was a handful of people who came here in search of meaning. They had come for Bitcoin but tended to have become interested more recently. They were curious explorers but sometimes felt more like tourists to this new world rather than natives building it. One of their gathering points was Essencia Nativa, a hotel/ restaurant on the beach which does not accept Bitcoin.
First impressions can be misleading though.
When I mentioned Bitcoin to an Uber-driver in San Salvador he perked up. He knew little about it but was curious and optimistic. The next day he drove me to El Zonte and I did my best to teach him on our hour-long drive. When we arrived, he downloaded a lightning wallet and I paid him in Bitcoin. We sent transactions back and forth between our phones as I continued to explain things. He was amazed at how easy it was and enamored with the idea that no government could take it away from him, that he was in control. He immediately wanted to spend some Sats and we went to the neighboring store to make his first purchase. He was visibly giddy. Since then, he’s been showing his family and sharing his Sats with them and calling me often with a new question to ask or insight to share.
Half the shops in El Zonte do accept Bitcoin and even more people are using it in their everyday lives and while that’s not 100% that’s still a hell of a lot.
As I got to know the foreigners here, I realized that El Zonte’s purpose is more than my expectations, not less— it doesn’t attract dreams and builders, it creates them. The owner of Essencia Nativa doesn’t accept Bitcoin for his business because of tax uncertainty but regulars pay him the cryptocurrency directly and then he pays their bill in dollars for accounting purposes. He is a hodler and is as excited as anyone about September 7th.
There’s a lot of work to do and first impressions can be deceiving, but the future is bright.
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I moved to San Salvador to start an international Bitcoin education non-profit. Follow here or on Twitter.
