A group of cryptocurrency enthusiasts in the eastern El Salvador city of Berlin are promoting daily bitcoin transactions three years after its adoption, as they wait for more Salvadorans to resume using it.
Evelyn Lemus and Gerardo Linares are part of this projectwith which they claim to have obtained that certain 120 local businesses accept cryptocurrency, ensuring that it is the place in the world where it is most used.
In September 2021, El Salvador became the first country to adopt this cryptocurrency as legal tenderwhich would become the main economic bet of the Nayib Bukele government.
Linares commented that after traveling to various parts of the country, they found that “there wasn’t much” use of the crypto asset and decided to “start educating businesses” about it. “How easy it is” its management and its possible benefits.
“We started to have a low impact on the local economybecause there were companies that were getting a lot of revenue in Bitcoin,” he commented.
Linares said the cryptocurrency is received by various companiessuch as car washes, restaurants, hotels, gas stations and lawyers in this city located more than 110 kilometers east of San Salvador.
“I think we’ve made a lot of progress and Berlin is probably the place where bitcoin is most adopted in the world”Linares pointed out and said that about fifteen foreigners have settled in this city to “live with bitcoin.”
“Bitcoin City” and “Bitcoin Beach”
Berlin is located a few kilometers from Conchagua, where President Nayib Bukele promised to found “Bitcoin City” in November 2021‘, a kind of tax haven for users of this crypto asset.
It was expected that by 2022 at least 1 billion dollars (approximately €901.5 million) in Bitcoin bonds to finance the start of its construction, but the measure did not materialize. According to the local press, the broadcast was moved to first half of 2024without the authorities having given further details.
Lemus stressed that his project to promote bitcoin in Berlin, a mountainous area in the eastern department of Usulután, was trying to emulate the experience of El Zonte, known as “Bitcoin Beach”.
Towards this beach, Bitcoin arrived in 2019 and its use increased with the arrival of the covid-19 pandemic thanks to the provision of aid by a donor to local families.
Lemus and Linares are also among those who lead a community center to provide Bitcoin education and “being able to provide opportunities for people with different skills to get a job.”
“The idea is to get remote jobs paid in Bitcoin to be able to continue injecting into the local economy,” Lemus said.
Pierre Bonbury is a Canadian citizen who said he was unable to use his savings in this cryptocurrency. until he moved to Berlin 6 months ago.
He said 90% of his transactions in Berlin were done with Bitcoin, which he found “great fun” and that he decided to leave Canada because of its financial policies.
As EFE was able to confirm, in the center of Berlin there are formal and informal businesses that advertise the acceptance of Bitcoin, such as food vendors, artisanal sorbet vendors, among others.
“We want, here in Berlin, from our position, to help the local economy,” Linares said, referring to government announcements aimed at improving the country’s economic situation.
According to an official website, the government has reserves of 5,866.76 bitcoins, valued at more than $318 million, of which some 455 bitcoin coins were obtained through digital mining and not through purchases.
This third anniversary occurred without the population massively using the crypto asset and with most of the information about the purchases kept secret.
Bukele’s government allocated $150 million to a trust for the conversion of cryptocurrency into dollars, while a report from the Cristosal organization estimates that $329 million was allocated to this measure.
According to a study published in January by the University Institute of Public Opinion (Iudop), of the Jesuit University of Central America (UCA), 88% of Salvadorans have not used the cryptocurrency Bitcoin during the year 2023. EFECOM
