El Salvador: What’s Happening in ‘Bitcoin Country?’ (2024)

Despite El Salvador being the smallest country in Central America, most people have heard of its president Nayib Bukele — especially folks in the crypto space. In 2021, Bukele made El Salvador the first sovereign nation to accept Bitcoin as legal tender, and since November 2022, he’s been buying one bitcoin a day, which he claims he’ll keep doing until it “becomes unaffordable with fiat currencies.”

While news outlets around the world were quick to blast the folly of the president during the recent crypto winter, after bitcoin’s price reclaimed all-time highs in March of this year and put El Salvador in the black, it’s been mostly crickets from the press.

Some see Bukele as a visionary, and many Bitcoin maximalists have even set up permanent shop in El Salvador. Among them are Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert, two influential bitcoiners who claim that Bukele’s investments and policies are the beginning of a “Renaissance 2.0” — with El Salvador replacing Florence as the epicenter.

So we decided to take a closer look to see what’s happening with Bitcoin in El Salvador. Here are some of the most interesting projects we found:

One aspect about the Italian Renaissance that’s often overlooked was the importance of sound money to enable cross-border trading. Florence, the heart of the Renaissance, was known for the Florin — a standard gold coin (1252-1533) that was the first money to be mass-produced and recognized across large swaps of Europe. Without it, it’s unlikely Florence would’ve thrived the way it did and spurred a movement that’s widely regarded as one of mankind’s most important moments.

Now, 500+ years later, some people believe El Salvador could lead the world into another Renaissance, this time on the back of the soundest money the world has ever known — Bitcoin. Of course, these are lofty goals, and only time will tell what happens with Bitcoin, El Salvador, and president Bukele, who still has five years left in his term to manifest his vision.

But the move by Bukele has brought global attention to the nation of only 6.5 million, and if the young president is correct — if bitcoin reclaims historic highs and keeps going, or if it becomes the reserve currency of the world — “Bukele’s Bitcoin Bet” would be one of the most transformative economic moves ever made by any president in history.