The grassroots Mi Primer Bitcoin, meaning \u201cMy First Bitcoin,\u201d\u00a0program has picked up steam in El Salvador. The first cohort of Bitcoiner-come-students began studies in May. Founded by John Dennehy, an American activist and journalist, the program also has the support of the Salvadoran government.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\nEl Salvador\u2019s first #Bitcoin<\/a> diploma program launched with the support of its Ministry of Education pic.twitter.com\/ajIHPHzqap<\/a><\/p>\n
\u2014 Bitcoin Magazine (@BitcoinMagazine) May 2, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Cointelegraph spoke with Dennehy and Gilberto Motto, El Salvador\u2019s director of education, to delve into the country\u2019s struggles and successes in Bitcoin (BTC<\/a>) education and to understand the rate at which it is spreading among the land of volcanoes.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The genesis block<\/h3>\n
When El Salvador adopted Bitcoin as legal tender on June 8, 2021, very few Salvadorans besides President Nayib Bukele could explain concepts like seed phrases<\/a>, satoshis or mining. There was \u201cBitcoin Beach,\u201d the name donned to the sleepy surf town El Zonte,\u00a0the birthplace of Bitcoin adoption<\/a> in El Salvador. <\/p>\n
But the 3,000 local residents would have their work cut out to teach the remaining 6 million population. Indeed, Salvadorans would require hundreds of hours of training, learning and \u201corange-pilling\u201d to be able to save and transact in Bitcoin.<\/p>\n
The moment Bukele onboarded up to 6 million people into the Bitcoin protocol. Source: Twitter<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n A mammoth task loomed for the Salvadoran government. Motto told Cointelegraph that as per Article 6 of the Bitcoin Law<\/a>, \u201cThe State will provide training on the use of this cryptocurrency.\u201d However, what would that training look like? How could the state rapidly and effectively introduce Bitcoin classes when they themselves would also have to get to grips with new money? <\/em><\/p>\n
All the while, Bitcoiners, commentators and the mainstream media watched as the El Salvador experiment played out. Dennehy, who had spent the past living and working in Latin America, told Cointelegraph that upon the law\u2019s announcement, he had to get to the country as soon as possible:<\/p>\n
\u201cI knew that I wanted to do something to help make sure that it worked out, that it was a success here.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Dennehy had been \u201cpredisposed to the separation of money and state\u201d for some time, and upon first learning of Satoshi Nakamoto\u2019s innovation, while living in Ecuador in 2013, he became a fervent Bitcoiner. He jokes that as per most \u201cOG\u201d Bitcoiners\u2019 experiences, the first exchange he bought BTC from was hacked<\/a>,\u00a0losing him around 2 BTC at the time \u2014 now worth over $40,000 at the time of writing. <\/p>\n
Almost 10 years later and after the arrival of the first country to adopt Bitcoin, he had to find a way to pitch in. He flew to El Salvador the second the opportunity would allow. However, similar to other Bitcoiners who have made the pilgrimage to El Salvador, he was struck by how few merchants and vendors accept Bitcoin. \u201cThere were effectively zero [merchants] when the law came into effect,\u201d Dennehy told Cointelegraph in May.<\/p>\n
Rikki, a Bitcoin podcaster and human rights activist who spent 45 days living in El Salvador living on Bitcoin and nothing else<\/a>, told Cointelegraph similar stories about his travels in Bitcoin Land: \u201cNobody here knows anything about Bitcoin. [The government] didn\u2019t provide one second of education to the people of El Salvador.\u201d<\/p>\n
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