The title of the Bitcoin (BTC) whitepaper describes bitcoin as a “peer-to-peer electronic money system.” So how is Bitcoin used as a medium of exchange or electronic money in the first country to adopt Bitcoin?
Reporter Joe Hall spent several weeks in El Salvador trying to live off bitcoin and only bitcoin. He documented his trials, tribulations, successes, and satoshis (the smallest amount of bitcoin) in a video for the Cryptooshala YouTube channel:
Headlines from El Salvador in the crypto community have been mostly positive. In addition, the statistics coming out of the country were very positive; tourism has grown by 30%, El Salvador’s crime and homicide rates have plummeted, and a Bitcoin bond project is under way in 2023.
However, while bitcoin is undoubtedly one of the most famous brands in the entire world; and a marketing tool that appeals to the pool of ardent Bitcoin proponents around the world, its use as a medium of exchange is often questioned. As Hall explains, things are different in El Salvador.
Some Salvadoran vendors are hodlers with laser vision; others made their first bitcoin payment with Hall and wanted to ask questions and learn more.
Hall was surprised, dismayed, amused, and ultimately delighted with his country discoveries. Implementing a new technology as new and misunderstood as Bitcoin is a mammoth task, but Salvadorans get bogged down in new technology where possible.
Retailers like Walmart had the option to pay in bitcoin, but the process was slow and inconvenient, while companies like Texaco were strongly opposed to bitcoin. At McDonald’s, work is smooth and fast; this is even faster than McDonald’s branches that accept bitcoin in Switzerland.
From the Adopting Bitcoin Conference, San Salvador’s Lightning conference that brought together bitcoiners from all over the world, to Bitcoin Beach and Surf City, the Santa Ana Volcanoes and the streets of San Salvador, Hall spoke to locals to gain a better understanding. bitcoin as a medium of exchange.
El Salvador’s Bitcoin Strategy Evolved Along With the Bear Market in 2022
Hall attended the “My First Bitcoin” graduation ceremony at a school in El Pacheco. Founder John Dennehy was recently interviewed by Cryptooshala. Dennehy explained the group’s plan to fix bitcoin education in El Salvador by teaching teenagers how to use bitcoin.
Indeed, recent graduates Hall spoke to at the school have grasped the core principles of Bitcoin and expressed their belief that Bitcoin represents the hope of the future. Watch the video to find out more.
Credit : cointelegraph.com
