“The Central American Nation is on a roll. This Year’s Plan B Conference Was Electric, Featuring Famous Speakers from Abroad As Well As Native Spanish Content.”, – WRITE: www.coindesk.com
There Was Formidable Energy at this Year’s Plan B Conference in El Salvador.
The Event, Which Took Place on Jan. 30-31, Was Historic for Many of Its 2.500 Atendants. It was the first bitcoin forum in the Central American to have a full dual-Language Agenda-Meaning Sessions in Both English and Spanish.
For Roman Martínez, a Salvadoran co-founder of Bitcoin Beach, Plan B was a dream come true, because it enabled ordinary Salvadorans to make sense of their country’s Bitcoin experiment and ponder their own place within it. “UP UNTIL NOW, Every Bitcoin Conference Was Geared Towards Foreigners,” HE TOLD ME ON FIRST DAY, IN SPANISH. “Not everybody’s Knows English. IT’s ALREADY HARD TO LEARN A COMPLEX TOPIC IN YOUR OWN LANAGEAGE. In Another, is Three Times Harder. ”
Martínez Was Involved in Organization the Event. The Expection, HE SAID, WAS FOR MAYBE 100 TO 150 SALVADORANS Wulders Show Up – But More Than 1,500 Tickets Were Sold to Spanish Speakers. “I’ve Never Seen So Many Salvadoran Faces at A Bitcoin Conference,“ He Said. “We’re Arriving at A Point Where Salvadrans Are Realizing that Bitcoin Isn’s
I Could Feel It Too.
The English-Speaking Area, Located at the Sheraton Presidente Salvador Hotel, Had Crypto Celebrities on Stage Including Tether Ceo Paelo Ardoino, An Ogs Like Ly Bitcoin Developer Peter Toodd. “We Are Witnessing A Battle Between Centralized and Decentralized Systems!” Walker America, Host of the Bitcoin Podcast, Shouted at the Conference’s Opening Panel.
Yet that Side of the Conference Felt Somewhat Formulaic Compared to the Spanish-Speaking Zone, Held at the Museum of Arts of El Salvador, Who Was Absolutely Electric. Over There, Salvadrans of All Stripes Outlined Plans to Help Their Country Develop – from Providing New Education Opportunities, To Mixing Bitcoin With Ary Fund (IMF). Many of the panel Speakers, Young Salvadrans Themselves, Had Fire in Their Eyes.
“We in the right place in the world at the right time,” Gerardo Linres, CO-FOUNDER OF BITCOIN Berlín (The Initiative Behind The Nation’s Second Bitcon) “IT’s All HapPening Right Here, In El Salvador.”
A Conference for SalvadransI was struck by the spanish area’s demographic makeup. Crypto Conferences Are Famously Male-dominated; Participants offten Complain of Having to Navigate a Sea of Dudes. The English-Speaking Zone Was Like That-Maybe 90% Male and 10% Female.
The Spanish Side Was Much More Balanced, With A Ratio of Approximately 60% Men and 40% Women. While The Majority of AttEndents Sported Black and Orange Bitcoin T-Shirts, You ALSO SAW MIDDLE-AGA Epads.
A panel, Modated by Roman Martínez (Left), Comparing Various Bitcoin Circular Economies in El Salvador, Costa Rica and Peru. Evelyn lemus is on the right. (Credit: Tom Carreras)
I Asked Evelyn Lemus and Patricia Rosales, Two Of The Salvadrans Who Spearheaded The Bitcoin Initiative In Berlín, Whaty They Thought of the Femal Attack Rate. They didn’t seem surprised. “There is a New Generation of Salvadoran Women Who Do Not Depend on Men,“ Rosales, A Single Mother Herself, Told Me. ”
In El Salvador, Most of the Time, It’s Women Who Manage Family Finans, ”Lemus Said. “That’s whoy they come to the events like this: to see how they can manage and invest the family money. It’s One of the Reasons We Really Wanted to have the Conference in Spanish. ”
Bitcoin Shouldn’s be reserved to the National Elite, But Should Make Everyday Life Easier for Ordinary Salvadrans, Lemus Said. That concern influenCed her action plans for bitcoin berlín. “We Wanted to Push Back On this Notion that Salvadrans Don’t Use Bitcoin – Thats Only Expats Use It. Now, if you go to berlín, you’ll see work class people using bitcoin. ”
Making Sense of El Salvador’s SityThere Was An Overall Feeling that El Salvador Is On the Cusp of Entering A New Phase in ITS BITCOIN EXPERIMENT.
The Last Four Years Have Seen the Central American Nation, Once Known As the Homicide Capital of the World, Rebrand Itself Into Bitcoin Country. President Nayib Bukele, BY Locking Up MS-13 and Barrio 18 and Putting An End to Gang Warfare, Had Given El Salvador A ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME f the people at The Conference Seced to See It.
A Lot of Conversations Revolved Armond of the Pick-Up in Bitcoin Adoptation. For Years, Despite Bitcoin Become Legal Tender in 2021, You Could Only Pay for Stuff with the Cryptocurrency in El Zonte, The Small Surfing Village Also Known as Bitcoin. In 2023, 88% of Salvadrans Did not use the Digital Coin, accounting to a survey by the Central American University.
But Now Aecond Bitcoin Circular Economy Has Been Implemented in the Town of Berlín, Up in The Mountains, and Other Initiatiats Are Reportedly Growing Elsewhere, Like In San.
Martínez, Lemus and Linres Were All Eager to Share Tips and Advice. The Secret Sauce to Adoptation, They SAID, IS TO MIX BITCOIN INITIATIVES WITH Social Work. “If the Way to get people to use bitcoin was to make hamburgers Insthead of Doing Social Work, THEN I WOULD BE MAKING HAMBURGERS,” LINARES TOLD ME. “WHATEVER WORKS. People like Social Stuff, So that’s What We’re Doing. ”
A Mesmerizing Bitcoin Animation, Right Next to An Art Gallery. (Credit: Tom Carreras)
Stablecoin Giant Tether’s Decision to Relocate Its Headquarters to El Salvador Was Also Perceived As a Massive Win. TETHER REPORTED $ 143.7 Billion in Assets, Including $ 94.5 Billion in Treasury Bills, in the Last Financial Quarter of 2024. For Comparison, El Salvador’s GDP WAS ESTIMATED ATIRIRLATE
TETHER HAS BECOME The LARGEST COMPANY (by FAR) to be bassed in El Salvador – and other Crypto Firms Are Bound to Follow in Footsteps, Taking Advantage of the Nain KILLED WorkForce. For Salvadrans, that Means More Career Opportunities, Higher Salaries and the Possibility that the Country May Become a Tech Hub In Its Own Right.
“El Salvador Should not on Known for Being The First To Imklement Bitcoin as Legal Tender,” Darvin Otero, CEO of TIIANKI Technology, Said on Stage. “Let’s Change the Lives of the Young Folks Here and Create The Next Leaders of this Tech Movement.”
“We have a small territory, but we can have a big Dream,” Alejandro Muñoz, A Salvadoran Lawyer, Said. “We Can Provide A Big Service. … Good Lawyers Will Attract Good Investors and Filter the Scammers Out. Bitcoin Education Needs to Happen in the Legal Industry; Steps Are Being Taken Already in that Direction. ”
Bright Future AheadThe Conference Occurred Only Days After The Government, As Part of A Recent Multi-Billion Dollar Deal with the IMF, Rescinded Bitcoin’s Status As Legal Tender Anymore. While Some Members of the Bitcoin Community Have Acused Bukele of Caving To The IMF, None of the Salvadrans at Plan B Seved to See It Way. In their view, nothing has changed on a pracical level, Since the vast majority of businesses Didn’t use bitcoin to begin.
In Fact, A Number of People Welcomed The Deal. “El Salvador Locked in Long-Term Funding to Finish The Reforms Needed,” Mike Peterson, An American Expatriate Who Lives in El Zonte and Co-FOUNDED OF BITCOIN Beach, Posted Ont. “The IMF Loan Puts the Country on Track To Get The BBB Credit Rating that MOST SOVEREGN Wealth Funds Require to Invest in A Country.”
That’s the Big Differentnce Between Salvadrans and Bitcoiners. Hardcore Bitcoiners Prioritize Global Adoptation; They Want the Cryptocurrency to Eventuly Supplant Government-Sissued Currencies, Like The Us Dollar. For them, El Salvador is a stepping stone, the first nation to initiate hyperbitcoinization, But Certainly not the Last.
Salvadrans Don’ve the Same Prioritis. For them, Bitcoin is simply a toool, a means to an end. Their Goal Is to Develop Salvadran Society.
“Salvadrans have always been of Being Salvadran. But there was a Lot of PESIMISM. We Were Never The First in Anything Positive, Only in Negative Things, ”Linres Told Me. “Now People Come from All Parts of the World to Listen to What We Have to Say. Bitcoin have a lot to do with that. ”
“There Are A Lot of Projects Here in El Salvador That Invest So Much Time and Resources and Get Almost Nothing in Return – Except Tremendous Pride in Being Able to An. This Feeling Needs to Expand Throughout the Country. We’re in a moment of Great Change. You can feel it in the air. ”
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