News From El Salvador, Mid October: Bitcoin Earnings, Pet Hospital, Motorcycles

Time to check back with El Salvador. Their Bitcoin experiment is well underway, and it’s already showing results. Are these results positive or negative? You be the judge of that. We’ll just present the facts, the tweets, and the photos. Can you believe everything the people we’re quoting say? Of course not. Everyone has an agenda. However, a clear picture is emerging. And it’s only been a month and a half since Bitcoin became legal tender.

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

Anyway, let’s get into it.

BTC price chart for 10/18/2021 on Bitstamp | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com

Government Officials And Official Stats

• President Bukele announced that they’re going to build a gigantic pet hospital with the country’s BTC earnings. He quickly cleared up where those profits came from, “By the way, we’re not selling any BTC, we’re are using the USD part of the trust, since the BTC part is now worth more than when the trust was established.” Check the mockup out:

• El Salvador’s Technological & Economical International Affairs Advisor was in Dallas, talking with yet another BTC ATM manufacturer, trying to bring its business to her country.

• Everyone’s favorite Bitcoin-denier, economist Steve Hanke, quotes a suspicious survey. Immediately, “What Bitcoin Did’s” Peter McCormack uses the survey’s numbers to flip the narrative. Who won the scene? No one, because the stats come from an NGO affiliated with El Salvador’s opposition.

• On the other hand, President Bukele claims that Salvadoreans are buying more Bitcoin than they’re withdrawing Dollars. Incredible. However, can we believe those stats? The Chivo ecosystem is completely government-controlled. There are no third-party observers to confirm any of this.

What’s Going On In San Salvador?

• Is this the first motorcycle bought with a Bitcoin transaction in El Salvador? We wouldn’t know. It’s the first one bought with a documented transaction, though. Here’s the documentation:

• Street vendors are already accepting Bitcoin. Of course, the controversial Article 7 says that “every economic agent must accept bitcoin as payment.” However, street vendors exist on the edge of the law. 

https://twitter.com/aalcalars/status/1448048033309077504

• Currently, you need a Strike account to receive Twitter Tips via the Lightning Network. That means only Salvadorans and Americans are eligible. If you’re among those two groups, here’s a handy guide on how to activate the feature.

• In roughly a month, the Adopting Bitcoin Lightning Summit will take place in both San Salvador and El Zonte. Here, the organizers announce that a middle size Latin American bank bought early bird tickets. Using the Lightning Network.

• In a parallel event to the conference, notorious Bitcoin maximalist Max Keiser will host one of his comedy shows in El Zonte. What can the community expect? Something similar to this, probably.

What’s Going On In El Zonte AKA Bitcoin Beach?

• On a typical Saturday in the Hope House, the community is ready to learn.

• This time, the sats recipient is Christina, a local El Zonte entrepreneur. She sells “only natural soaps she made by hand out of her home” and got the community’s economic support for her business. 

https://twitter.com/Nakadai_mon/status/1446664355920158725

Related Reading | News From El Salvador, Early October: The Chivo Ecosystem’s Stress Test

• Brazil caught the Bitcoin Beach bug. An independent project, not related but inspired by the original, popped up at Jericoacoara, Ceará. They describe the project as, “building a Bitcoin economy using Lightning Network. Inspired by Bitcoin Beach, optimized to Brazil.” 

Will we be writing a “News From Brazil” section soon? One can only hope.

Featured Image extracted from this tweet | Chart by TradingView