The title of the Bitcoin (BTC) white paper describes the major cryptocurrency as a “peer-to-peer electronic money system.” So how is Bitcoin being used as a method of exchange, or electronic cash, in the first country to adopt BTC as a legal tender?
Reporter Joseph Hall spent a few weeks in El Salvador trying to live with and only Bitcoin. He documented his trials, tribulations, successes, and satoshis (the smallest amount of a Bitcoin) in a video for the Cointelegraph YouTube channel:
The headlines from El Salvador within the crypto community have been largely positive. Furthermore, the statistics emanating from the country have been abundantly positive; tourism has increased by 30%crime and the homicide rate in El Salvador have dropped dramatically, and the Bitcoin bond project is going from strength to strength this 2023.
however, though Bitcoin is undoubtedly one of the most well-known brands in the worldand a marketing tool that attracts a group of ardent cryptocurrency believers around the world, its use as a method of exchange is often questioned. In El Salvador it is no different, as Hall explains.
Some Salvadoran sellers are committed hodlers; others made their first Bitcoin transaction with Hall and were eager to ask questions and learn more.
Hall was surprised, appalled, amused, and ultimately excited by his findings in the country. Embracing a new technology as novel and misunderstood as Bitcoin is a daunting task, but Salvadorans are getting into it as much as possible.
Retailers like Walmart had the option of paying in Bitcoin, but the process was slow and cumbersome, while companies like Texaco were strongly opposed to Bitcoin. At McDonald’s, the experience is smooth and fast; is even faster than McDonald’s branches that accept Bitcoin in Switzerland.
from the conference adopting bitcoin -a conference on the Lightning Network in San Salvador that brought together bitcoiners from all over the world- until Bitcoin Beach and Surf CityPassing through the volcanoes of Santa Ana and the streets of San Salvador, Hall mingled with the locals to learn more about using Bitcoin as a method of exchange.
Hall attended the “My First Bitcoin” educational graduation ceremony at a school in El Pacheco. The founder, John Dennehy, was recently interviewed by Cointelegraph. Dennehy explained the group’s plan to remedy Bitcoin education in El Salvador by teaching teens how to Bitcoin.
In fact, the recent graduates Hall interviewed at the school understood the fundamentals of Bitcoin and expressed their belief that Bitcoin represents hope for the future. Watch the video to find out more.
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