News From El Salvador, Early September: TV Spot, Chivo Leaks, And BTC Smiles
El Salvador ’s Bitcoin Law goes into effect on September 7th. Legal tender day is just around the corner, and you know what that means. It’s time for another news roundup! How’s the growing excitement treating El Salvador? Is there any pull-back from the general public? Does El Salvador ‘s first Bitcoin tv spot explain the technology clearly? Does the image below show the Chivo Wallet’s architecture? How do Bitcoin Beach’s lifeguards train? Plus, what’s this Bitcoin Smiles campaign about and what does it have to do with El Zonte?
Related Reading | President Bukele Guarantees Zero Commissions, Shows Confidence In Bitcoin Law
All that and more, in the last news roundup before the storm.
El Salvador Presents: First State-Sponsored Bitcoin Commercial
President Bukele himself presents El Salvador’s first Bitcoin commercial. Did they explain the situation clearly? Does it seem simple enough? Did they convey that there would be no fees successfully? The ad is in Spanish but, luckily for you, we translated it right below.
A partir del 7 de septiembre 🇸🇻#Bitcoin @chivowallet pic.twitter.com/HNiHWdY3x1
— Nayib Bukele 🇸🇻 (@nayibbukele) August 30, 2021
Bitcoinist Translation:
“From September on, Bitcoin will be legal tender in our country, alongside the USD. Using bitcoin will not be mandatory. You will have the option to pay and charge with bitcoin or with USD. All transactions in cash, the prices, the wages, and the pensions will still be denominated in USD. You will have the option to use the free government app for making transactions in both bitcoin or USD, at any time and without any fees.
Also, you are free to use any other wallet for your transactions. With our wallet, you will receive Bitcoin bonus worth $30 for your consumption. You’ll have the option to pay, in USD or Bitcoin, using your phone for transactions without handling money and signing vouchers
The same goes for the seller, he won’t have to handle money or cards, nor pay fees for the transactions. You will also be able to send and receive remittances, at any time, without fees. Using Bitcoin is easy, and it’s voluntary. The Government of El Salvador.”
Leaked Chivo Wallet Architecture? Plus, Finished Chivo Cashpoints?
Is this the Chivo Wallet’s blueprint? El Tapudo, a comedy Twitter account from El Salvador, leaked this document and it spread like wildfire among the country’s political opposition. However, is it real? Are those the companies behind the Chivo Wallet? Why is Athena so prominent? Is this a joke of some kind? The document does say it’s a “re-drawn diagram,” and the info comes from a “leaked document.”
#TapudoLeaks. Esta es la estructura con la que funcionará la #ChivoWallet, y no es chiste. pic.twitter.com/N7YCovR3dJ
— El Tapudo (@eltapudosv) August 23, 2021
On the other end of the spectrum, President Bukele shows the finished Chivo cash points that the government is building all over El Salvador. However, are the 50 they promised ready to open to the public? The law goes into effect in a few days.
Estamos construyendo 50 puntos Chivo distribuidos por todo nuestro país 🇸🇻
En ellos se podrá depositar y retirar dinero (sin comisiones) y habrá personas listas para asesorar en cómo descargar y utilizar la billetera electrónica y los cajeros.@chivowallet #Bitcoin #PuntosChivo pic.twitter.com/unT8rOTR7f
— Nayib Bukele 🇸🇻 (@nayibbukele) August 31, 2021
As a side note, in both tweets, in recent tweets, the negative comments are outweighing the positive ones. The Salvadorans are nervous, and there’s a good reason for that. They’re the first nation on Earth to accept the Bitcoin Standard. This great step for mankind is no joke. Everyone understands how important it is. The fear of the unknown is a real thing.
Nevertheless, the fact remains. From September 7th on, El Salvador will have access to the hardest money ever created.
Reports of citizens protesting the Bitcoin Law have been greatly exaggerated. As this drone photo clearly shows.
Son un chiste. 😂 https://t.co/99VvnOshSR pic.twitter.com/oakb8zooK8
— Jose Valdez (@JoseValdezSV) September 1, 2021
Both this pizza shop and this barbershop in San Salvador already accept Bitcoin. They learned how to via YouTube.
En Apopa, algunos pequeños negocios han empezado a aceptar #Bitcoin como forma de pago. Hablamos de un local de pizzas y una barbería donde dicen que no quieren quedarse atrás con los avances tecnológicos. (1/2) #Teleprensa33 #Nacionales
Más detalles. ⏬ pic.twitter.com/H24kM6K9XJ
— Teleprensa (@Teleprensa33) August 30, 2021
BTC price chart for 09/02/2021 on Bitstamp | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
El Salvador Presents: Bitcoin Smiles And Bitcoin Beach
The Bitcoin Smiles campaign achieved its goal. They raised a whole Bitcoin and some change to bring “together the Bitcoin community and dental care to create as many smiles as possible.“ Specifically, ”Bitcoin Smiles is an initiative by BTCPay Server and Bitcoin Design contributors to raise funds to provide free checkups, dentures, and critical care for up to 50 patients in need.” And those patients are all in El Zonte AKA Bitcoin Beach.
BitcoinSmiles campaign is now officially finished.✅✅✅
The #Bitcoin community raised 1.02031889 BTC for dental treatments of the ‘forgotten’ people of El Salvador. 🇸🇻
– 797 contributions
– 76 ⛓️
– 721 via ⚡️
We will directly fund patients’ treatment, starting tomorrow. pic.twitter.com/ZZbbMszQZ9
— BitcoinSmiles (@BitcoinSmiles) August 30, 2021
As Bitcoinist told you in previous news roundups, the lifeguard program was one of the first Bitcoin Beach programs. And now, this thread by Michael Atwood takes you inside an intense day of training that all the lifeguards do every two weeks.
1/ You may have heard about the intense 6am jungle runs in El Zonte, but I’d like to introduce you to the 6am lifeguard training run + swim.
I happened to join them on this particular day, where their level of savagery reached new all-time highs 😂
Some backstory 👇 https://t.co/tlM6rTgetn
— Michael Atwood (@Dooowta) August 17, 2021
And, as always, without skipping weeks, Bitcoin Beach’s Roman Martínez provides photos of their free Bitcoin education program. These men are slowly spreading the news across the whole of El Salvador.
#bitcoin educación gratuita para todos 🇸🇻 pic.twitter.com/pcTDrNE4wI
— Roman Martínez (chimbera) (@romanmartinezc) August 21, 2021
And, another program altogether, “Surf For Everyone.” Free surf and Bitcoin lessons for kids at El Espino Beach.
“Surf para todos” El Espino🇸🇻 @Bitcoinbeach transformando vidas!! #Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/f2wpQQjSeU
— Roman Martínez (chimbera) (@romanmartinezc) August 28, 2021
And that’s it for this news roundup. The last one before El Salvador ‘s Bitcoin Law goes into effect.
Let’s get ready to rumble!
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Featured Image: Bitcoin Smiles | Charts by TradingView
