El Salvador's Bitcoin Revolution: A Nation's Dream Takes Shape

This article is part of a series exploring El Salvador's journey with Bitcoin. A recent dispatch on El Zonte can be found here. The Plan B conference, held on January 30-31, was a historic event that brought together over 2,500 attendees, marking the first Bitcoin forum in the country to feature a full dual-language agenda, with sessions in both English and Spanish. Roman Martínez, co-founder of Bitcoin Beach, considered the conference a dream come true, as it enabled ordinary Salvadorans to understand their country's Bitcoin experiment and explore their place within it. The event was organized with the expectation of attracting around 100-150 Salvadorans, but over 1,500 tickets were sold to Spanish speakers, exceeding expectations. Martínez noted, 'I've never seen so many Salvadoran faces at a Bitcoin conference. We're reaching a point where Salvadorans realize that Bitcoin is here to stay, and either we become part of it now, or we'll be left behind.' The conference featured prominent crypto personalities, including Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino and Blockstream CEO Adam Back, but the Spanish-speaking zone was particularly electric, with Salvadorans outlining plans to develop their country through education, healthcare, and government strategy. The demographic makeup of the Spanish area was notable, with a more balanced ratio of men and women, approximately 60% to 40%, compared to the English-speaking zone. Evelyn Lemus and Patricia Rosales, who spearheaded the Bitcoin initiative in Berlín, attributed the high female attendance to the fact that women in El Salvador often manage family finances and are interested in learning about Bitcoin to improve their family's economic situation. The conference marked a turning point in El Salvador's Bitcoin experiment, with the country on the cusp of entering a new phase. The implementation of a second Bitcoin circular economy in Berlín and other initiatives have contributed to increased adoption, with the secret to success lying in combining Bitcoin initiatives with social work. The relocation of Tether's headquarters to El Salvador was seen as a significant win, with the company's $143.7 billion in assets surpassing the country's GDP. The conference occurred just days after the government rescinded Bitcoin's status as legal tender as part of a deal with the IMF, but Salvadorans at the conference did not seem concerned, viewing it as a practical non-issue. Instead, they focused on the potential for Bitcoin to drive development and create opportunities for their country. As Darvin Otero, CEO of tiianki Technology, stated, 'El Salvador should not only be known for being the first to implement bitcoin as legal tender. Let's change the lives of the young folks here and create the next leaders of this tech movement.' The conference highlighted the difference in priorities between Salvadorans and hardcore Bitcoiners, with the former viewing Bitcoin as a tool for societal development, rather than a means to achieve global adoption. As Linares noted, 'Salvadorans have always been proud of being Salvadoran. But there was a lot of pessimism. We were never the first in anything positive, only in negative things. Now people come from all parts of the world to listen to what we have to say. Bitcoin has a lot to do with that.'