News From El Salvador, Early July: Bukele, El Zonte, And The ATM Factory

The Bitcoin train is moving fast in El Salvador. The law that makes it legal tender goes into effect in September, but the first Bitcoin company is already up and running. Also, a member of the US government and Reuters have President Bukele in their minds. Plus, concrete improvements in El Zonte, the land of Bitcoin and the Lightning Network.

Related Reading | Bitcoin Adoption: Why Paraguay Could Follow In El Salvador’s Footsteps

Are you ready to get into it? This train is moving fast as lightning, hop aboard!

Politicians And Media Magicians

• The U.S. Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Victoria Nuland visited El Salvador. She had a “productive meeting” with President Nayib Bukele and Alexandra Hill, the Foreign Minister. Nuland was visiting Paraguay, Panama, and El Salvador. As far as we can tell, she didn’t visit El Zonte.
  
  According to The U.S. Embassy in El Salvador:
  

In El Salvador, reinforced U.S. support for strong democratic institutions, transparency, and rule of law in meetings with Salvadoran President Bukele Foreign Minister Hill, and in roundtables with civil society and with young Salvadoran political leaders.

For his part, Bukele tweeted: “United Fruit Company.” Google it.

• Speaking of President Bukele, Reuters used his image for an article titled: “Central American officials land on list as part of U.S. corruption crackdown.” The thing is, Bukele was nowhere to be seen in said list. A little mishap? Or, maybe, the kind of thing you have to deal with if you try to free the people from the cartel that is the banking system? You decide.

 But enough about politicians, let’s talk about important people.

BTC price chart on EXMO | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com

News From El Zonte AKA Bitcoin Beach

• Bitcoin is hope. These two El Zonte store owners are on their way to financial freedom. Let’s check back with them in ten years.

• In El Zonte, they offer free courses on entrepreneurism, English, software development, and more. This movement is about lifting the community as a whole. No woman or man left behind.

• It’s in Spanish, but check out Bitcoin Beach’s promotional video. It’s awesome.

That’s it from El Zonte. Let’s turn our heads to the corporate world.

The First Bitcoin Company Is Already Operating

One of the Bitcoin Law’s objectives is to bring new business to El Salvador’s shores. Well…

•  Bitcoin ATM manufacturer ChainBytes, “incorporated in El Salvador as ChainBytes El Salvador S.A. de C.V.” As you can see in the following video, the machines already arrived and they’re setting up shop. Their aim is to produce Bitcoin ATMs in El Salvador and serve the whole region. The plan is, “to make El Salvador a major exporter of Bitcoin ATMs.”

And that’s this week’s news roundup from El Zonte and San Salvador. As soon as the Bitcoin Law goes into effect, we’re sure we’ll get reports from all over the country. Keep your eye on Bitcoinist and we’ll keep our ear on the ground. 

Related Reading | How El Salvador Embracing Bitcoin Signifies “The Separation Of Money And State”

If you want to know more, you can also check our analysis of VICE’s mini-documentary about El Zonte, Bukele’s explanation of the Bitcoin Law, and last week’s news from El Salvador.

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