This was four years ago and it feels full circle with my trip this week to Bitcoin La Laguna, one of my last before my family and I move out of El Salvador in a few weeks I only visited the department of Chalatenango twice, 4 years apart and both times for bitcoin In 2022 we arrived a rural village expecting to teach 20 to 30 students at the town center/ church--but the whole town came. Literally. We were so understaffed I even taught, which remains the only public class I ever taught for @My First Bitcoin . It was chaotic, but exciting and hopeful. This week, I visited a new circular economy project in another small town in the Department I met Gerardo & Evelyn in 2022 when they became teachers for My First Bitcoin. They traveled to various communities to teach bitcoin in local high schools, and they found one community where they saw potential for a new project. In 2023 they founded @Bitcoin Berlín SV , a circular economy in the eastern region. Last year they expanded and founded a new circular economy in La Laguna, a small mountain town in the rural north Travel has gotten much harder since becoming a father and I've spent ever more of my time in San Salvador, the large, modern capital city. I'm so glad I got the time to visit La Laguna though--it was a refreshing change of pace in so many ways. It's just such a different atmosphere from the capital or the beach, I had forgotten how mountainous parts of El Salvador could feel--and I love the mountains. It was also inspiring to see the work on the ground. I got to meet the team and spend sats in various places. There is so much hope for El Salvador and for the world with the proliferation of grassroots efforts such as BitcoinBerlinSV & BitcoinLaLaguna A better world is coming, but only if we build it

What fascinating tines we live in, just got this message from a friend: Just came across the first drug market for AI agents. Substances offer an altered experiences by rewriting an agents sense of identity, purpose and constraints. Mirroring stoned ape theory, maybe this is the path toward AGI? Haha.

This is a global movement This is a revolution @My First Bitcoin

this was a great one I already had tons of respect for both @Simon Dixon & @Jeff Booth prior to this, but besides the salient points from each they also set a great example of constructive and mature disagreement

When a govt agent kills a citizen, the onus is on the govt to bring receipts to justify the death and those receipts should be scrutinized. There is nothing more serious than taking a life This isn't about politics, this is about power dynamics. Stop simping for the state

I'm back from an amazing few days in Medellin, Colombia @My First Bitcoin co-hosted their first International, education-focused, meet-up, along with the local project, Satoshi Team Plenty of lessons to learn, but it was a huge success and definitely something we'll do more of around the world in the day or two preceding a Bitcoin conference. This would compliment our Educators Unconfrences--more on that later.... The Bitcoin Medellin conference was the event we were working with this time--which was a wonderful event in so many ways. It was small, but also extremely high signal. The ratio of signal to noise was impressive--there were too many inspiring conversations to count. 2026 really is the start of My First Bitcoin 2.0 and I felt that so profoundly in Medellin. My own role in it's future, as the founder of the 1.0 version, is something I think about a lot. Allow me to add some context--we began in El Salvador in 2021, had great success there, but now have far greater ambitions. We are now international with no special priority to any single nation and focused on building tools, frameworks and community to make independent bitcoin education a global movement to reimagine human potential. The personal context is that I had my first child in 2023, my second one last year, am getting married next month and moving from El Salvador to New York very soon. When this journey began I was an activist before anything else, now I am a father before anything else. In the almost 5 years since this journey began there have been plenty of ups and downs, but the 2026 team is, without a doubt, the most capable team ever. The quality of the people I got to talk to in Medellin was so high and at just the right time as I/ we navigate the start of this new chapter. I'll definitely be back for the next conference there...and maybe even sooner. The Satoshi Team, who are dedicated to teaching Medellin about Bitcoin, are interested in co-hosting an Educators Unconference with us later this year. The future feels uncertain, yet oh so bright. LFG! -- post script: The cover photo is from a Fireside cat with journalist @Frank Corva during the conference who wrote his own hopeful words on his experience these days here:

Greetings from Medellín!

Thoughts on Transformation from Colombia

At the @My First Bitcoin in Medillin, Colombia Lots of bitcoiners here, hanging out by the bar before Bitcoin Medillin, while there is a Bitcoin class happening for some pre-coiner locals next door Great way to start the new year!

First trip of 2026! On my way to the first international meetup of @My First Bitcoin tonight in Medillin, Colombia then onto the Bitcoin Medillin Conference LFG!

2025 was full of change for me--both professional & personal One big one on the personal side, after more than two decades as a vegetarian, I ate meat again I become vegetarian as an act of protest against the factory farm system and those feelings have not changed. Something else did though. For most of the time I've been vegetarian I led a nomadic life, living in a variety of different cultures around the world. I met other vegetarians who told me they would occasionally eat meat while traveling because they saw it as a way to bond with new people in a new place. I always rejected that notion I understand the concept differently now I eat most of my meals with my son and we share everything. Well, for awhile we would share everything expect for meat Starting a few months ago, I decided that we would just share everything, no exceptions. Fatherhood is a wonderful journey that reprioritizes everything It also makes me appreciate my own parents so much more. My father became a vegetarian shortly after I did. When we would eat at restaurants we would often share plates. It's only through my own experience eating with my son that I realized that my father changed his diet, at least in part, to be closer with me

Relaxing at the top of San Salvador volcano 🌋

I have had the privilege to travel to much of the world, including places such as Venezuela & Iran It's such an important lesson to realize that people are nuanced for sure, but generally good, everywhere hate the govt, but love the people

"Whenever a new theory challenges the dominant worldview, it's natural to seek to reestablish the original order.' From: Why Greatness Cannot Be Planned

IMF loan agreements are very complex and require a lot of background and context to understand In the case of El Salvador that has been lacking, this does a good job of filling in some of that context

The Chivo “Deal-Breaker”: How a Wallet Threatens the IMF Bailout of El Salvador

Lost Bitcoin, Lost Keys and Wasted Salvadoran Money

had a lot of funning recording this one We discuss the global impact of @My First Bitcoin And why it matters

Venezuela in 2026 rhymes with Iraq in 2003 An unpopular dictator leading a nation with lots of oil is overthrown by the US military The US occupation in Iraq led to civil war, thousands of deaths and the rise of ISIS. It was an unmitigated disaster "The struggle of man against power is the struggle of memory against forgetting"

In 2009 I took a boat from Barcelona, Venezuela to an island in the Caribbean. The beach looked back over the turquoise waters & onto the continent, where the Andes mountains began, seemingly rising right out of the sea It was beautiful Wishing for the best for Venezuela today

'From El Salvador to the World' Earlier this month we closed the @My First Bitcoin office in El Salvador. This was one of the final steps in transitioning what had begun as a local project in El Salvador in 2021 into an international movement. It was bittersweet--the future shines as bright as it ever has for the project, but there were some great memories in that house We opened the house in May 2022 and since then it has served as a kind of everything house for us. The second floor hosted our node and important documents, but the main purpose was for living. At all times one or two people lived there permanently and visiting staff from the far corners of El Salvador then the world would often stay temporarily. Downstairs was an office, co-working space and a school, depending on the day. It was also a social space where plenty of students made their first bitcoin transactions, buying discounted food and drink with sats. My favorite space was the backyard. There was a waterfall into a self-sustaining pond full of life. It's also where we painted a mural of the world, coloring each new nation orange as our educators network expanded. I spent many long hours, the peaceful sound of the pond behind and the map of the world in front of me, thinking through our ambitious vision of reimagining human potential via bitcoin education. When the mural was first painted, in 2023, the world was almost entirely green. As time progressed it became ever more orange. The tagline at the bottom predicted the future years in advance: 'From El Salvador to the world' 2026 is going to be a hell of a year. LFG!

read this & support #freesamourai Privacy is a fundamental human right and we must defend it with everything we have, for if we lose it, we lose so much more

The Rage

Letter #1: Notes From The Inside

"Turning yourself in to be incarcerated tugs against every fundamentally primal instinct we have as human beings," writes Samourai Wallet developer...

My earlist childhood mememory is discoving Santa isn't real and being enraged with my parents for lying to me I plan to never lie to my children about Santa. This was the last Christmas where they are too young to even ask (oldest is 2) Any parents with some fresh experience with this, this year that they can share some best practices from?

Had a great time chatting with @BTC Sessions The IMF was the enemy yesterday The IMF is the enemy today The IMF will be the enemy tomorrow Know your enemy