El Salvador’s Bitcoin Report Card with Aaron Van Wirdum

“The only reason gold has the monetary value that it does have is because there’s this small chance that one day it will be the reserve currency again...and Bitcoin is making the exact same bet. ”— Aaron Van WirdumLocation: LondonDate: Tuesday 9th NovemberProject: Bitcoin MagazineRole: Print Editor-In-ChiefWhen I first visited El Salvador, towards the end of 2019, Michael Petersen was in the early stages of implementing his vision of a local bitcoin economy in the coastal village of El Zonte. What started as a small-scale experiment has become a transformative initiative and a key driver in the country's adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender.On 7th June 2021, El Salvador passed the Bitcoin Law, with an ambitious plan to replicate El Zonte nationwide and make Bitcoin a central part of El Salvador’s economy. Nayib Bukele, the Salvadoran President, mandated an ambitious 3-month deadline to implement the Law. And, despite the complete lack of both public and private infrastructure, on 7th September 2021, El Salvador became the first country in the world to make Bitcoin legal tender.In this interview, I talk to journalist and Print Editor-In-Chief at Bitcoin Magazine, Aaron Van Wirdum. We discuss the implementation of the Bitcoin law, what has changed in El Salvador and which nation-states might follow in their footsteps.This episode’s sponsors:Gemini - Buy Bitcoin instantlyBlockFi - The future of Bitcoin financial servicesSportsbet.io - Online sportsbook & casino that accepts BitcoinCasa - The leading provider of Bitcoin multisig key security.Exodus - The world's leading Desktop, Mobile and Hardware crypto wallets.Ledger - State of the art Bitcoin hardware walletCompass Mining - Bitcoin mining & hosting-----WBD424 - Show Notes-----If you enjoy The What Bitcoin Did Podcast you can help support the show by doing the following:Become a Patron and get access to shows early or help contributeMake a tip:Bitcoin: 3FiC6w7eb3dkcaNHMAnj39ANTAkv8Ufi2SQR Codes: BitcoinIf you do send a tip then please email me so that I can say thank youSubscribe on iTunes | Spotify | Stitcher | SoundCloud | YouTube | Deezer | TuneIn | RSS FeedLeave a review on iTunesShare the show and episodes with your friends and familySubscribe to the newsletter on my websiteFollow me on Twitter Personal | Twitter Podcast | Instagram | Medium | YouTubeIf you are interested in sponsoring the show, you can read more about that here or please feel free to drop me an email to discuss options.