While the state project fades, that of the Proprara communities.
Ciudadlas such as Bitcoin Berlin create real and organic circular economies.
The echo of the Bitcoin Law, which in 2021 turned El Salvador into the first country to adopt the digital currency as legal tender money, has been extinguished in the corridors of the International Monetary Fund (IMF). However, in Salvadoran streets and communities, it beats a deeper movement, one that was not born in a government palace, but in the corner store.
When El Salvador announced his commitment to Bitcoin (BTC), led by President Nayib Bukele, the world celebrated a financial revolution, the proposal of a futuristic Bitcoin City and the challenge to the traditional monetary system. However, the data then showed a different panorama.
A study published in the journal Science (2022), based on a survey of 1,800 homes and an analysis of transactions in the Wallet goat, concluded that Bitcoin’s adoption as a daily use currency is practically nil. He adds that only a small group of tourists and previous users of BTC uses it regularly, with a peak in September 2021 driven by the 30 dollars bonus offered by the Government.
The report details that only 40% of respondents downloaded Wallet goat initially, but its use fell dramatically, with most transactions made in dollars. The main barriers were lack of understanding of use, distrust and a preference rooted by cash.
The Survey Rumbo Country 2024 of the Francisco Gavidia University (UFG) reinforces this diagnosis by pointing out that 92% of Salvadorans do not use bitcoin For transactions. This represents an increase with respect to 88% reported in 2023 by the IUDOP of the UCA. Only 7.5% declared having used Bitcoin once.
Then, the international pressure redefined the panorama. IMF reports (2025) indicate that, to ensure a loan of 1.4 billion dollars, the Bukele government adjusted the Bitcoin Law, allocating the use of the digital currency to the private sector voluntarily.
On the other hand, the promise of financial inclusion collided with an internet penetration of 48.6% – under the Central American average – and a low digital literacy. However, after all, qualifying the experiment with Bitcoin in El Salvador as a failure would be an incomplete reading. This is because, while the state initiative languishes, An organic and decentralized movement is taking shape.
The real engine is Bitcoin’s communities
However, the case of El Salvador shows that The true adoption of Bitcoin does not arise from the decisions taken in government officesbut in the communities that, by their own conviction, are building Ciudadlas de Bitcoin.
A paradigmatic example is Bitcoin Berlin, in the Department of Usulután, southeast of El Salvador. Far from the ambitious volcano bonds or the futuristic architecture of the Bitcoin City promised by Bukele, Bitcoin Berlin is a vibrant circular economy, where the use of the Lightning Network for payments in stores, restaurants and markets is the standard.
This ecosystem does not depend on state funds, but on the passion of its inhabitants and the support of anonymous donors from the global community. Is the Bitcoin City that does existforged from below, by and for the community.
Bitcoin Berlin is not alone, since Bitcoin Beach, in the zonte, remains a lighthouse of adoption preceded by Bukele’s law. This movement is added emerging foci such as Isla La Pirraya and Santa Ana, where new communities are creating their own economic ecosystems.
The engine of this silent revolution is education. Initiatives such as my first bitcoin, an NGO dedicated to teaching the foundations of money created by Satoshi Nakamoto, are closing the digital literacy gap that the government has not addressed. Instead of imposing an application, these initiatives empower the population with knowledge, Building a solid basis for adoption.
Two speeds for Bitcoin in El Salvador
Anyway, it should be noted that the Bitcoin Law put El Salvador on the map, that tourism grew 206% during the first six months of 2024, attracting more than 2 million visitors, many of them curious bitcoiners for witnessing the experiment in action. However, what they find is not a uniformly bitcoinized nation by decree, but vibrant adoption spotlights driven by common citizens.
Salvadoran experience reveals a two -speed bitcoin adoption. On the one hand, a centralized state initiative that did not generate mass confidence or use, limited by structural barriers and international pressures. On the other, a decentralized, community and educational movement that is building a tangible financial futureperson per person, store by store.
El Salvador remains a reference on the global Bitcoin map, not by Bukele’s law, but for the work of his communities. They are proof that Bitcoin adoption is not imposed; It is cultivated. And that is the story that, from the base, the world should be observing.
