Just got back from El Salvador: Thoughts on Bitcoin

I've just returned back to the States from a few days in El Salvador. What a beautiful and amazing country. I went down there to see for myself what Bitcoin adoption was like, scope out possible retirement spots, and to surf. My intention is not to evangelize or sell anything, but to put my own beliefs to the test. Am I right? Does bitcoin scale? Is it really freedom money? Can adoption scale? Does bitcoin really make banks obsolete?

Getting out of the airport was my first BTC transaction. In order to get through immigration, I used my Strike wallet to pay $12 to get my tourist stamp. Easy! So far so good. Next up was my car rental. No go. They would not accept it.

Driving to the hotel, I stopped at a pappusaria for something to eat. The vendor didn't accept bitcoin, and thought that the price was way down after Bukele adopted it. Since I was there primarily to see how adoption was going and to see if it worked well, I didn't push. Looking back I wish I would have told him BTC had doubled from the beginning of the year... Oh well.

From the hotel it was on to El Zonte. Bitcoin Beach! Certainly EVERYONE would take bitcoin here! Nope. I stopped a local coffee vendor, and I was informed that all the bitcoiners were on the "other" side of the river. He didn't know anything about bitcoin, or want anything to do with it. Disappointing. I would get my coffee somewhere else. I cross the river and stop at a restaurant called the Beach Break. They even integrate the bitcoin logo in the sign. Food was awesome. Service was really good and the manager was a bitcoin guy from Southern California. Highly recommend the Beach Break in Zonte. Lightning wallet works here too!

From there it was on to surf rentals. None of the surf rental places accepted bitcoin. While I came into this with low expectations, I thought that Bitcoin beach would have more adoption. I was also disappointed to see so many Western Instagram thots running around. How do they pay for all this travel? I'll never figure it out...

I went to a bitcoin meetup and paid for drinks with a different Lightning app, but the meetup was quite "sales pitchy". Nice people, good message, but I felt like I was at network marketing event rather than a true "meet up or the next few days, it was a lot of keeping tabs on the ratio of acceptance/rejection. In El Zonte, 4 out of the 12 places I visited accepted bitcoin. Not good enough to call it "Bitcoin Beach". Great place. Awesome surf. Friendly people. Newly paved roads. Instagram types everywhere (the worst US export).

On to Tazumal and San Salvador. Complete shutout. Not a single taker. Nobody took bitcoin. Fun cities with good food and friendly/happy people, but no bitcoin takers. One restaurant said it accepted bitcoin, but the person with the wallet to accept wasn't there at the time, so once again it was cash or card.

Even though the adoption was low, I could see that Lightning Network, works. It's fast and cuts out the banks. If vendors are paying 3-5% to Visa/MC, why wouldn't they accept this form of payment? Especially if they could send dollars of the LN? I read all about how remittances work and how badly people were getting screwed over by Western Union. Why weren't people using this? Where is the disconnect? I spent a day on the beach just thinking about this, and considering how I might be wrong. I considered going, to Berlin to see if that circular economy worked. That is a long drive.

If you decide to go to Berlin, the Saint Augustin Road from Highway 2 is a dirt road that in places could be impassable. Take the CA1W. Seriously, either have a truck, or good off road skills. I got a lunch recommendation off X. Parked, stepped out of my car, and immediately met a co-worker from 20 years ago who was there to further bitcoin adoption. Weird, right? Well, I went with him to the bitcoin embassy and met a few others who were also there to further the adoption. This felt way more grass roots and organic than El Zonte. Lunch was paid for to their Chivo wallet. I bought shirts with LN. Went to the vendors in the town square and bought fruits, a frozen drink and cigars each different transaction on LN. Even street vendors were taking bitcoin. THIS is how it's supposed to be done. The bitcoin embassy in Berlin is doing things right. If we want adoption, look at their blueprint and see what they are doing.

Over the short time I was in El Salvador, I saw many interesting things. What stood out mostly to me was how families were all together at the restaurants/beaches/towns. They were big families all together and looked happy. Young kids everywhere and they are all unafraid of strangers from different countries. Talking to people was easy and the optimism was high. These are a proud and hardy people. Yes, the adoption of bitcoin is limited. But the network works. Transactions were fast, but there is a 1% fee that isn't on CC transactions.

So back to the beginning: Does it work? Yes. Definitively and without question. Every transaction on LN worked.

Can it scale? We are a long way off from having circular economies in bitcoin. Fruit vendors, to customers and auto repair are one thing, but if you want to put a supply chain together, dollars will be needed at some point. Being able to send dollars over LN to friend, blew his mind. I'm still not sure what all the implications of this are.

Is it really freedom money? Can it really make banks obsolete? I'm no expert by any stretch of the imagination. I don't know how LN works. I don't know where that 1% transaction fee goes, or if it will go up/down/sideways, but I do know that no bank was involved in the transaction.

This trip was as transformative as it was informative. So glad I went. My conviction in bitcoin is a strong as ever. I still believe that the USD is a bully that will crumple when punched in the nose by a money that hits back. We might be further out that I thought on adoption, but I'm pretty sure I've made the right choice.