Bitcoin Haven Set Up To Combat Corona Financial Concerns

In response to the economic strife caused by the COVID19 Coronavirus outbreak, a small village community in El Salvador has implemented a financial system based entirely in Bitcoin

According to the Forbes report the village, El Zonte, has had a relationship with the concept of blockchain since early last year. The story told is that an anonymous donor, after losing and then remembering his Bitcoin wallet password, gave a six-figure donation worth of cryptocurrency to the village.

According to the report, a San-Diego native Michael Peterson who was volunteering in El Zonte was offered the opportunity to administer the donated Bitcoin, provided he would not cash it out or convert it to fiat. Instead, those receiving any funds from the donation would need to learn how to use the cryptocurrency. This resulted in the emergence of a “Bitcoin economy” in the village.

A Shining Example Of Fully Fledged Bitcoin Adoption

After the village’s tourism sector took a massive knock as a result of the global outbreak of the Coronavirus, residents started to look to Bitcoin as an alternative asset. Those who use Bitcoin in the town are able to pay for anything with the digital asset, including utilities, food and vehicles.

The Main Aim: Learning About Bitcoin

In order to teach and assist residents about the token, there are various Bitcoin training stations set in El Zonte. Here, they can scan a QR code to receive their deposits.

Peterson, having worked on the initiative for months, commented:

“As we injected Bitcoin into the community, we also taught local businesses how to accept it and helped to educate them on the advantages and drawbacks of accepting Bitcoin. There was a lot of resistance among the adults, [since it felt] too technical. So we moved on to youth, they picked it up right away. The key is to get them to start transacting right away, then they want to learn more about it, the security of it, and how it works.”