Ecuadorian community adopts Bitcoin (BTC) as local currency

The adoption of Bitcoin by a local community in Ecuador

Could Bitcoin (BTC) be the new alternative for struggling Latin Americans?

In any case, this is what suggests the initiative of the businessman Mauricio rubio, which would have allowed a small Ecuadorian community of 40 inhabitants to adopt Bitcoin as a currency of exchange.

Siguiendo el ejemplo de @Bitcoinbeach , estamos desarrollando la primera comunidad #Bitcoin in Ecuador.
Rural, con limitaciones pero llenos de esperanza ? #LightningNetwork @romanmartinezc @Konfidinse pic.twitter.com/vmFfB2HzMl

– Mauricio Rubio (@maurorubiot) December 17, 2021

A day when Mauricio Rubio held a podcast on the subject of Bitcoin and more broadly of development of cryptocurrency, a resident of the community of Píntag Amaru would have heard him and would then have offered to come to his village to talk to them more about it.

“I went there, and then I discovered an organized community that used to make reservations. I then suggested that they stock up on bitcoins and I was surprised by their positive reception. We started with a first wallet (digital wallet) and then started to store Bitcoin. This was when the price of bitcoin was $ 30,000. “

The man describes the inhabitants as a community of peasants where “ whatever they sow they sow without chemical fertilizers of any kind. They try to defend their self-sufficiency, reforestation, and this while living at an altitude of 3000 meters. “

For him, this is in keeping with the will for most bitcoin holders to live in autonomy, far from the banking system that we know.

? To read on the same subject: El Salvador wants to create the first Bitcoin (BTC) city in the world

A small-scale network

This has already enabled villagers to offer sightseeing trips to visitors who so wish, as they can now accept bitcoin payments through the Lightning network, designed to minimize transaction time. It is this same network that was used in El Salvador for the adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender.

Thus, tourists are accommodated in a house provided for this purpose and live in the community as if they were living there themselves.

According to the businessman, the continuation of the project is already in preparation, with as the next step a collaboration with the neighboring villages in order to extend the capacities of tourist stays.

” You can experience the Antisana volcano, then go to the beach and live with other communities […]. Above all, we want to help local communities to develop and boost their economy thanks to Bitcoin ” he added.

The example of Bitcoin Beach

It is to Salvador, the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, that is the “Bitcoin Beach”, on the beach of El Zonte.

Storefront accepting Bitcoin in El Zonte – Source: Reuters

This is a project aimed at creating an economy based around Bitcoin for the sake of autonomy since there, the majority of the population cannot even have access to a bank account. Most of the time, local vendors cannot receive credit card payments either.

Bitcoin Beach was made possible thanks to a generous anonymous donation of more than 100,000 dollars in the form of bitcoins and today allows the inhabitants of the region to have access to education and to pay their daily transactions so secure and independent.

But it also makes it possible to directly develop infrastructure since it is now even possible to pay local construction companies in bitcoins.

It seems that crypto-assets are on the way to becoming an alternative of choice to banks for populations in difficulty, allowing them to develop a local economy in a simplified way.

? To read on the same subject: WhatsApp launches a cryptocurrency payment service thanks to Novi