This is an opinion piece by João, founder of Boletim Bitcoin, a Brazilian portal 100% focused on Bitcoin.
Discover Bitcoin Beach Brazil, a social project inspired by El Salvador, which increases the adoption of BTC as a method of payment and savings for local businesses and schools inside Brazil.
The region of El Zonte, located about an hour from the capital San Salvador, was the starting point of the Bitcoin Beach social project, motivated by an anonymous donation to the local community. From there, the area became one of the hotspots for spontaneous adoption in El Salvador, with the asset being adopted by local merchants.
Inspired by adoption from El Salvador, Fernando Motolese created the Bitcoin Beach Brazil project. As stated in an interview with the Brazilian portal Boletim BTC, the idea emerged on September 7, when the Bitcoin law came into force in El Salvador:
“The project came into being on September 7, 2021. I saw what was happening in El Zonte that it pushed El Salvador to adopt bitcoin as their official currency. Then I started to replicate here in Jeriquaquara…
We started out helping merchants accept bitcoin as a form of payment, until we evolved into an educational approach to help them learn how to save money and use bitcoin as a tool for financial inclusion. One of our big initiatives was to share our Lightning implementation on www.github.com/praiabitcoin/bancobitcoin.
You can see all the code there that we use, like what we did here to use Lightning and also to have a sovereign bitcoin implementation to serve our community.
Motolese pointed out that he plans to help more communities around the world integrate a Bitcoin standard through a book he is writing:
“And alongside all these implementations, I’m writing a book, which is: ‘Bitcoin Standard Circular Economy’, which aims to help communities start this journey of replicating the Bitcoin Beach experience in the Brazilian model, which is a little different. And in this book, I intend to teach communities how to replicate our initiative.
bitcoin in schools
One of Bitcoin Beach Brazil’s latest initiatives was the distribution of 0.1 BTC to students and teachers at a municipal school in Jericoacoara, the city where the project operates. A total of 408 wallets containing 1000 satoshis were delivered in paper wallets.
Additionally, the students received a T-shirt, a bottle and a piggy bank of project coins, as well as instructions on how to use Bitcoin.
“First activation of Bitcoin Beach, with 408 paper wallets of 1000 sats each, t-shirts, paperweights and piggy banks for students and teachers of the Municipal School of Jericoacoara.”
Motolese explained how he approached the school:
“The school librarian told me that the computers in the computer room had been broken for 2 years. So, I’m a computer technician…then I talked to the principal and told him to let him raise funds to fix the computers in the school.
… Then we started a rapprochement. I posted on the internet that I needed resources to repair computers. This opened the possibility for us to approach the school. So the folks at Bitcoin Beach donated 0.1 bitcoin to us. So with this donation of 0.1 bitcoin that we received from Bitcoin Beach, we did this activation, which was to produce 408 paper wallets.
As indicated, the purchase of the t-shirts and other products was made in Bitcoin:
“The production of these shirts was paid for in bitcoin. This opened the possibility of a partnership in place since the beginning of the project […] And from this partnership, we intend to launch some locally made Bitcoin Beach products to be sold and fund part of the project there.”
Hotspots of hyperbitconization
Through initiatives such as Bitcoin Beach Brazil, awareness and use of BTC in local and circular communities is boosted, creating small pockets of hyperbitconization. These moves have the potential to bring huge long-term benefits to these regions as the crypto asset appreciates and establishes itself as a sovereign store of value.
The Lightning Network, Bitcoin’s layer 2 network, plays a key role in the adoption of BTC as a payment method. The network enables fast and inexpensive transfer of sats, unlocking the potential of cryptocurrency as an efficient method for everyday trading.
Direct acceptance of bitcoin in transactions has the potential to increase the overall liquidity of the asset, in addition to potentially reducing volatility, as there is no need to convert the asset into fiat currency to settle purchases .
However, it is important to note that BTC must first establish itself as a store of value and then function fully as cash, since individuals tend to keep money strong and spend money. weak money, a phenomenon explained by Gresham’s law.
This is a guest post by João. The opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc. or Bitcoin Magazine.