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This is a recording of a recent Twitter Spaces conversation about the anniversary of the president of El Salvador announcing the country’s intention to make bitcoin legal tender.
Listen To This Twitter Spaces:
Transcript
[0:06] Stacy Herbert: We’ll probably be out there on Friday for the event, the Meetup.
[0:13] Bitcoin Beach (Max Keiser): Awesome. Yeah, I’ll be in California. So I won’t be able to make it but I think it should be a good group.
[0:19] Stacy: Yeah, it’s pretty cold up here today in San Salvador. I’m actually wearing a sweater.
[0:26] Max: It’s nice when you get that little break.
[0:28] Stacy: I know.
[0:30] Q: So I know we’re going to be waiting for a few people to trickle in like, I see Max has made his way in, but I’d love to just start from the very very beginning. And while we have you are in my opinion at least the grandfather of bringing Bitcoin to ElSalvador, you rehashed the story a thousand times over. Without going into the depths of the detail, talk to us about what that first interaction with Bitcoin was like, and then fast forward to today and what you have seen come to life.
[1:13] Max: Sure. Yeah. I’ll just give a brief overview. So we’d been working in ElSalvador. For several years. Before we started injecting Bitcoin into the existing social projects we were doing. And we saw along the way just so many hurdles to bring in money in for different projects. We are doing for people that you know, living in poverty in the community where we’re at and seeing them be abused by the financial system and financial service providers just the percentage of their income, their pain and fees.And so back in 2019. We started paying a number of the kids that were doing different work in my community. Some part of that was trying to keep them out of the gang so it keeps them occupied and positive things. And so we started paying them to clean the river and pay them in Bitcoin brought on a couple stores initially kind of by, you know, leveraging the relationship we had with them and they were doing us a favor. And this grew and then, once the pandemic hit, we started doing UBI in Bitcoin to everybody in the community because they weren’t allowed to work. They were literally going hungry. And so it was one of those unique times where you could give resources broadly without worrying about it, distorting the local economy and so that was kind of what jump-started it. And then as all these other stores that the businesses that are accepting Bitcoin were booming, you know, and they hardly had any sales they started asking hey how can we participate in it? And so that was kind of the the early days and then it grew into, we started the country’s first lifeguarding program paid all them inBitcoin, it blossomed into the 20-something programs that we’re doing right now is part of Hope House and how we’ve seen it, really change was in the beginning. We really, you know, you had to tell people what Bitcoin … if we found the young people were much more open to transacting and kind of not being overwhelmed by it. And so, but in the early days, it was every additional person we had to really hold their hand as to where we go now. Almost everybody in El Salvador has heard of Bitcoin. Not maybe they haven’t used it yet but they surely have somebody close to them in their life that has used it on a regular basis. And we’re now seeing a lot of the knock-on effects. The positive knock-on effects of the Bitcoin adoption of all these businesses that are flooding in the number of wealthy investors. That you know, now having an El Salvador strategy is part of you know what they’re looking to roll out in the next few years and just people or hope that El Salvador’s kind of leading the way rather than trailing from behind. And so, it’s funny. You keep seeing all thesePublications, come out. Like only 20% of stores are using Bitcoin or it’s only accounting for 5% of, you know, the activity. I mean, if we have those type of numbers, any other country, we’d be screaming from the rooftops. And so, I think it’s been an unmitigated success where other people, you know, like the nitpick at these. You know, little things saying, well not everybody’s using Bitcoin. And so…
[4:28] Q: I love them and I love hearing how much it’s grown Max. I’m so happy that the bat last night didn’t scare you off and you’ve been able to join us as well. Stacy, thank you for capturing and sharing that video with everyone Roman you have I want to give you two guys, the next opportunity, Roman I know you’re boots on the ground a lot of stuff just with the community having lived in El Salvador for, correct me if I’m wrong, almost your entire life? I would love to just hear from you. Maybe not necessarily the onboarding experience but what the conversations have been from people who are not yet using coin? What’s stopping them? What do we need to do? What resources do they need more of to help expand and that work on the ground floor.
[5:26] Roman Martinez: What’s up guys? Hope everyone is good. Well I born in El Zonte, so I have been here entire life and that, yeah, like Mike say in his dream, everything started as a dream to change this community and the fact that we see between more as a tool is because we have been working in these. And these communities trying to empower the jump people, because they only dream was to leave the country or the only opportunities were like to be a fisherman or to be a farmer or to leave the country to the USA working there and sending money back to their family. So we have been trying to give these tools like English classes, computer classes, access to the university with a scholarship access to programs to surfing soccer’s, all these kind of 21 social initiative, that might mention it, that we are running here. And, and Bitcoin was that perfect tool that we were waiting to teach people about financial education. Like I think that was like that had been the the special thing and that in this community, I think the 90% of the people didn’t have access to the bank account, that’s means that being Hibachi still bank account access to saving actions to transact, digitally access to receive digital and make digital payments. So that conversation talking about digital money with the with the people is hard in the beginning to change that mindset about money. You know, that money is something that they can touch but in the same way, when they is more easier, when they when you explain them about the benefit that they can take about that they could, they can take about these new technology about these new digital money, right? I think people have been more even.They don’t get it fully in the beginning, but they see the benefit that they can take from there. And it’s hard to change that mindset, but it’s beautiful to see what started to happen, you know, because we see it people receiving the same amount of money now in Bitcoin and they start to saving, and they couldn’t make saving before, you know, because they didn’t have like a place where they can leave their money or or and everything came, with example, right? Like my nation that we started with the first kids, then with the first merchants. That was Mama Rosa, Jorge’s mom is like a local shop that you can buy like all your basic needed here in the community. And then when the other Merchants see like that she’s doing well there. Okay, there is Bitcoin in their community. You were gonna set this new money to, you know, and and if it’s it’s a slow, you know dedication. We one thing that we learning is like, we all need to be empathy. We all need to put time, some people get a like super fast and some people took more time, but I think we all need to put time in these and try to teach them the benefit because to understand Bitcoin is it’s hard in the beginning.
[9:17] Q: It’s still hard. Even now when it’s my full-time job, but I love that you’re absolutely right. That education is the most important thing. And Yusuf, the work you guys are doing not only all over the world, but most recently down in El Salvador, you prioritize education. Would love for you to just briefly share with us with everyone listening, the work, the built with Bitcoin was doing down in El Salvador last year.
[9:47] Yusuf: Hello to everybody. Hola buenos dias. It’s great to see so many familiar faces and to be able to hear the stories of everyone. El Salvador’s an extremely special pays place for us six years ago, when both [inaudible], and I, when we started the bill to a Bitcoin Foundation, it was always about providing equitable opportunity to access to natural resources to education, all through the power of Bitcoin. But when El Salvador adopted legal tender and we were able to go down there and see, truly something that we believe in so much. That is Bitcoin can provide the necessary fundamental tools fora better quality of life. How can you disagree with it for us? When it comes to our workin El Salvador, you know Mike to embed and others know, the kind of effort that it requires the empathy that respect at the Grassroots level and that takes time. And so, when it comes to adoption Universal adoption of Bitcoin. Education is obviously going to lead the charge and education, takes patience. One of the communities that were working in El Salvador, specifically is called East Lata Sahara. And what we were able to do there along with our friends at Bitcoin magazine was to build a Bitcoin boat to transport folks from the mainland to the island folks that wanted to be able to go to work to go to school. Didn’t have a true means of transportation. And so through the education of Bitcoin itself, you know, this boat was basically built so utilizing this. This mode of transportation kind of segued into learning more and more about Bitcoin and being able to use it safely and securely. It’s one thing to be able to learn how to useBitcoin. But one of the main things that we were hearing from folks who was, you know, the different scams that they were experiencing and that all has to do with being able to protect themselves with the level of Education that can be provided. And so for me the one thing that I can take away from El Salvador and its adoption is I’m so grateful. I’m grateful to be able to meet such beautiful and warm people. That’s one thing that I think we sometimes kind of forget when it comes to bitcoin. Is the human aspect that peer-to-peer kind of relationship building that we create with communities where we are all together in this fight, right? And, you know, I’m very grateful to be able to meet folks at Bitcoin Beach and all the work that everyone is doing in and around the country itself and being introduced to a beautiful place that goes out of order. I hope to spend my honeymoon there actually, and I would have never visited El Salvador. Unfortunately, if it wasn’t for Bitcoin. And so Bitcoin has allowed me to be fortunate circumstances to be able to travel…
Read More: The Anniversary Of El Salvador’s Bitcoin Legal Tender Announcement
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