Hola! While I am very busy with my research there is a lot of temptation to look at what's happening in the other countries of the Americas. Saifedean Ammous wrote an extensive critical piece on #Argentina, and especially #JavierMilei's policies. It's quite hard for me to get a good grasp on where he might be off, but I'm pretty sure the #IMF's tactics are also debatable. In #Haiti #Bolivia and #Ecuador apparently there's trouble. And #Venezuela and also #Cuba are in #Crisis. 😢 Yes, I find it quite preposterous. For many years the Americans were so scared of a competitive system next to their #System of #Capitalism that they did everything in their power to demolish any attempts in another direction. Now Marco Rubio📬points out that the elite - now called GAESA - was the main cause of a lot of hardship that's happening over there. Right. My hope is for the people of Cuba to take control and steer their country into a different... Bitcoin direction! 😅 #RutaDeBitcoin🏄‍♂️ #Governance #Elite

Hola! In the Netherlands the topic of #Migration is currently trending. In Blitzer's book I can see quite some similarities. He points out that a local immigrant population was: ".. statistically far more law-abiding than American citizens". He also refers to the MS-13 killing in 2016 where two American teenagers, Nisa and Kayla, were brutally killed. Trump could not stop talking about it in the #Campaign later on! 📣 The thing is. Donald has a point. Jonathan makes it very clear how these gangs create an extended #Universe, from which immigrants also cannot escape. In my opinion, people are justifiable worried when a group of immigrant men are settled nearby. You don't know where they're from and how bad their life was. All kinds of issues may be at hand, non the least of not having found a place to live, work and to fulfill a purpose in life. If policy-makers do not take this fact into account, trouble is on the horizon. What do you think? 🤔 #RutaDeBitcoin🏄 #Gangs #Politics

"Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race." Martin Luther King Hola! In these days of conflict there is a lot of room to learn about #War. 📬When you do your research about El Salvador, there are obviously a lot of encounters with terrible events. In a few conversations I had with people I told them the #Dollar is 'Dinero de Guerra'. The U.S system works with a war revenue model. If you choose for Bitcoin, you choose for #Peace! 🕊️ In San Salvador we went to the Museo de la Palabra y Imagen and met with the former voice of Radio Venceremos Santiago. One story of Colonel Monterrosa tells us of the #Guerilla setting a trap for him by abandoning a radio station. He takes the bait, gets his trophy and it explodes with him in the helicopter. This "Hero of Joateca" was trained at the School of the Americas about military strategy and torture techniques. He ordered the #Genocide... 😕 #RutaDeBitcoin🏄 #Radio #Massacre

"Welcome to Bitcoin Country!" 🇸🇻 ✅ Hola! We did not spot it ourselves, because it was not installed yet, but we understand El Salvador now has a beautiful Bitcoin welcome for new tourists at the airport. Here📬we meet Francisco, one of the first Bitcoin-teachers who will start teaching at a school in San Marcos! I'm curious how all students will progress in the country. ❤🔥 If all promises are true, this will generate an impact at a #National level. With the results the nation of El Salvador will be able to compete on a #Global level. It's one of the ways the government can choose a new direction. Instead of an earlier #Universe of gang-related communities, now that will be replaced by financially literate people who will make better decisions, I guess. The Bitcoin strategy that Bukele is implementing consists of more aspects. I'm doing more research about it this year, so we'll be able to follow the developments for decades to come!? 🧑‍🎓 #RutaDeBitcoin🏄‍♂️ #Education #Levels

Hola! A quick update on my research developments. I'm very busy reading, as you can understand, and almost through the first batch of books as shared earlier... 📚📬 Especially the book from Jonathan Blitzer is very interesting and a great read. It gives a good perspective on why a lot of the terrible things happened in El Salvador these last 50 years. Also on why #Migration has been such a difficult topic in the Central Americas. I find it hard to put all of my findings into words, but I've made a lot of notes and expect these interesting facts will come back as additional material for the book I'm working on. ⚒️ Nobody in Bitcoinland needs an introduction to Michael Saylor. He and his endeavors are very prominent these days. You wouldn't say it from the looks of it, but I suspect he (unlike me! 😜) is still a Bitcoin Maximalist. I've studied Bitcoin for 1.000+ hours too, so I do wonder if this table on page 109 is correct. What do you think? 🤔🧑‍🎓😅 #RutaDeBitcoin🏄‍♂️ #Maximalism #Debate

"We prioritize the safety of our honest citizens over the comfort of criminals. Some people say we've imprisoned thousands, but the reality is that we've freed millions." Nayib Bukele Hola! Read about the history of this country and realise what people can do to each other, pfff. I don't think I'm in the situation to judge about the measures that Bukele is taking. At the moment a collective trial of 486 members of the Mara Salvatrucha #Gangs is being heavily discussed online. 📬🤔 Of course, I can contribute my thoughts on certain subjects and what they mean to me. This picture has been taken during our stay in San Miguel, where 5.000 police and military personnell were deployed at the yearly carnaval. We actually had nothing but good experiences with the police ourselves. They were very relaxed and we have exchanged friendly greetings with a lot of them. The main question for me is how Nayib will pass on the #Governance. What do you think? 🧑‍🎓 #RutaDeBitcoin🏄 #Freedom #Surveillance

"Fix the money, Fix the World." ✅ Howdy! Even though the #Jetlag is still not quite over, I´m starting up my #Research for 'writing the book'. Of course I´m going through a lot of information daily and I also have a few books open, but... I have decided to start with 'The treasury of Michael Saylor' by Anil Patel as a book that I very likely want to reference in my story about 'Bitcoin in El Salvador'. There are multiple reasons for that choice.⚡ First of all. I believe Michael is a often misunderstood pioneer and visionary. Just like I believe Satoshi Nakamoto is. To me it seems very likely that also Nayib Bukele might belong in this category. If you know any other candidates share them in the comments please. 🙏 Obviously there is a lot to learn about the business he's in. The bigger question. If a country truly implements a Bitcoin strategy - and companies like #Strategy will pop-up - in what kind of (various?) aspects will society change? 🤔🧑‍🎓 #RutaDeBitcoin🏄‍♂️ #StreetArt #Pioneers

Howdy! The last stop on our way home was Washington D.C. A necessity as an important part of the book, although I have to admit, I'm not yet sure what the contents of one of the last chapters exactly will be. I do know that I am going to focus mostly on all of the positive aspects of this city though. At least now I've got a good grasp of this #Capital of the United States and... wow, I must say. We were pleasantly surprised. 😍 Of course it is the seat of #Power in the world and closed to the public in many ways, but it is also truly an amazing city. Energetic and vibrant and... still great! Yes, we probably stayed in a tourist bubble, but I really couldn't tell this is the capital of an empire in decline, except for #Inflation. Also the Washington #Community makes their home a good place to live. Maybe one day we will return, because we can definitely spent some more time here, but for now it"s back to the Netherlands. There's a lot of work to do! 🛠✅ #RutaDeBitcoin🏄‍♂️ #UnitedStates #PoW

“Only put money in the banking system that you can afford to lose!” Max Keiser Hola! So...this Sunday we've visited El Zonte for the last time in our project trip. We said goodbye to Max & Stacey. Not really haha, but they were present as sponsors of the surfevent at Bitcoin Beach. We watched the event from good seats at the place near Cajita Kitchen, which was packed with people. 🌊 We would have stayed for a night, had it not been for the fact that our hotel did not really live up to our standards. We've payed 77 dollars, but the place was not as nice a spot as advertised. The plan to watch a movie together on the screen could not go on, since Netflix did not work. Somehow we ended up in a bit of a quarrel with the owner, who did not want to give us a refund. Luckily, we already had another place in Puerto de la Libertad where we went back to the same day. Now, you can call it what you want, but I'd say this is #Freedom. What do you think? 😅 #RutaDeBitcoin🏄‍♂️ #Privilege #Choice

Phil: "Do you ever have déjà vu?" Mrs. Lancaster: "I don't think so, but I could check with the kitchen." Hola. This lovely town really reminds me of the town of Punxsuta.. ow ehm, Woodstock, Illinois in the movie Groundhog Day. There's a chapel, a market where we go to daily, some drunks sleeping on the pavement and a guy selling coffee on the street at the same spot every day! Last week I've gifted my last 'Guia de Bitcoin' to Jonathan, who works in the nice restaurant San Leonardo. We've enjoyed a great horchata and cocoa de leche. 🥰 This Saturday evening we went back -our third time- for an amazing pizza at restaurant Piccolo Giardino. We've eaten a few panini's for lunch again on Sunday... and I've also had some nice last talks in this town; at the Galeria Santa Emilia (only on #Facebook too, but they do accept Bitcoin!). All in all, we've really loved staying in this pueblo. Today we're on our way to the Capital once more. Enjoy your day!! 🙏 #RutaDeBitcoin🏄 #Food #Art #Film

"What makes Chalchuapa stand out at the time was their creation of an organized society within an urban framework. This signified a central authority, religious organization, labor units for construction, urban planning (albeit rudimentary), organized agricultural production, controlled trade networks, and specialized cultural and trade crafts..." The History of El Salvador - Christopher M. White (21) Hola! While I'm going through the history of El Salvador, once again, I'm trying to figure out 'what kind of information I want to share in the book'. Another challenge: 'What kind of material will I study?' With Grok it is really easy to find all kinds of cool research about a lot of stuff, but obviously there's no time to read it all. 🥲 The 'first verifiable advanced human settlement El Salvador was situated around 1200 BC in Chalchuapa'! We've visited this place three times. On the picture you can see the ancient ruins of Tazumal. I'll definitely do some more research on this one! ✔️ #RutaDeBitcoin🏄‍♂️ #History #Choices

"Un pueblo que ama la libertad será al final libre." Simon Bolivar Hey y'all! Whether the #Freedom quote above is really from Simon remains a bit unclear, according to Grok. I am however watching the 60-episode long series on Netflix of 'Bolivar'. It seems like it suits "El Libertador". Interesting to watch to get a better grasp of the past.🧑‍🎓 Meanwhile we've experienced our third #Earthquake - no worries, all of them were not that strong - but it's quite the experience. We've also gotten ourselves a bit into trouble. What happened? Well, we are feeding the street 'chuchos' next to our house in Ataco, but.. now they have collectively found out our place is a proper dining spot. They even bark at the door and bring their friends. This week there were ten of them congregating in front of the porch. Yes, of course we've now changed tactics a bit while giving them food and love, but it's a bit hard to convince the dogs about that change of policy! 😜 #RutaDeBitcoin🏄 #Incentives #Chucho

"The longer the coastline of our knowledge, the bigger the ocean of our ignorance." Bert Bosman 😅 Hola! After two weeks we've finally made it out of the village and went on a short trip to Ahuachapán! Basically to go to the supermarket, but we've also strolled around the city a bit. It's one of those places where people are still amazed when they spot tourists. There's a central square, a nice church and a 'Casa de la Cultura', where some great photographs from 1929 are on display! ✅ Meanwhile I've been diving into the #History of El Salvador. Turns out, right after #Independence from #Spain a "Federal Republic of Central America" was created. I did not know that yet. One of the visionairies for this new union was Francisco Morazán. He also served as its president from 1830-1839. So from now on I'll be wondering how to incorporate this knowledge into my book about "Bitcoin in El Salvador", amongst other things. Updates will follow! 🙏 #RutaDeBitcoin🏄‍♂️ #Union #Writing

"What inspires me the most [about Bitcoin] is the community driving it. It reminds me of the early internet. It’s deeply principled, it’s weird as hell [and] it’s always evolving." Jack Dorsey Hola! A strong wind is blowing through the mountains and the village of Concepcion de Ataco and my first Bitcoin meetup in this town is a wrap. It was very interesting to meet with a handful of people and (try and ;) listen to their conversations. Basically that means practising your Spanish for an hour and I did fairly okay. We've been discussing some cool application ideas. ✅ Interesting to see how more of these meetups start up in El Salvador. Last week one in Chalchuapa - about an hour away, so I did not attend. Now I have joined a 'Ruta de las Flores'-Telegram group, so it's likely I'll discover some more. We will stay here for one more month! Yes, I'm really curious to see how (and if) these communities will develop in the coming years... 🧑‍🎓 #RutaDeBitcoin🏄 #Meetup #Community

Hola! How's everybody doing? I hope all is well. 🙏 Here's a statement: When you are working and living in a house in Concepcion de Ataco, life really does not differ that much from living in Amsterdam. It's mostly sitting behind the computerscreen many hours of the day. 😜 Okay, that's not totally true, since we are enjoying a lot of sun lately. Also culturally this town brings with it a different Christian vibe, as in many places in this religious country. Ataco is situated in the mountains, which has the advantage that nights are prettty.. cool. The #Weather is great! ✅ While sitting in our garden in front of the house and listening to the sounds of birds, a handymen came by to fix our cast iron gate. I was amazed by the speed and creativity of this craftsman. It made me wonder when #Robots with A.I. will be this ingenious. O yeah. On our entire journey we did not spot any Torogoz yet. I'm not really a bird-watcher, but that one is still on the list! 🪶 #RutaDeBitcoin🏄 #Culture #Torogoz

"Este trabajo esta hecho por el dominio publico." ✔️ www.BitcoinCoast.sv Hola! On Sunday I gave away another Bitcoin Coast #Guide for 'comerciantes'. A handy introduction book to Bitcoin, written by Evelyn Lemus from the #Berlin #Community. To be honest. I still have to read it fully myself, but skimming over the pages it seems like a proper explanation. I use it as a guide to make contact with people and have a chat about Bitcoin. In this way I hope to contribute to the Bitcoin-awareness in this country. So nope, I'm definitely not an #OrangePill top dealer, but I do contribute my #Sats! 😅 My believe is everyone should follow their own energy. I don't do this because I so necessarily want to make an impact in the world. I do this because it makes me feel good. The interaction gives me energy and I love to be in contact with the people and create some awareness. O yeah, La Raclette is a great place to eat while spending time in Concepcion de Ataco! 😋 #RutaDeBitcoin🏄 #Energy #Mission

Hola! One of the biggest challenges for me is to decide what kind of topics I'd like to learn about, and subsequently deciding on how much #Research I'd like to invest in understanding them better. Luckily book stores are pretty scarce in El Salvador. 😜 There was literally a mountain of books near Centro Historico, in a store called 'La Montana de los Libros'. Here and there you can find a mainstream bookstore in a mall, but those can't really excite me. After a conversation with the dean of Engineering at the University of Sonsonate (also about Bitcoin) he showed me around campus, and the library was open for visitors. 🎉 In hotel 'Las Tilapias' in La Palma I discovered a great series from Banco Agricola in the restaurant, but not enough time to go through all of them. 😢 In Usulutan I found a great book about Gerardo Barrios (in Spanish), that I'm currently reading. Ps. That's the general who has a statue in front of Binaes! Yes, I love this journey! ☺ #Books #History #RutaDeBitcoin🏄‍♂️

"Thoughts about Bitcoin payments in El Salvador." 📬 Hola! In comparison with last years visit we can notice Suchitoto is improving. There are also some pretty cool places to spend Sats. I've pondered a bit though about 'Bitcoin payments in El Salvador'. Yes, it's actually quite the challenge to keep paying in Bitcoin when there is so much #Volatility in the #Price. ✔️ Yesterday I've tried to work out a first concept about my new #Paradigm of thinking. I realise there is a lot to work out, still, I'm quite happy with this first attempt. If you have any time to spare, I'm more than happy to read along your thoughts on this new article. Let me know what you think, even if you don't agree with some of the things I've written, or think the article is total crap! 😜 #RutaDeBitcoin🏄‍♂️ #Ideology #FrameWork

"What USDT did is to create the biggest monetary distribution network in the history of humanity." Paolo Ardoino📬 Hola! A theme of this brilliant event was the battle between 216.000 tons of #Gold and 21 million Bitcoin! You can notice the influence of "probably the biggest visionairy in financial markets", according to Juan Sartori from #Tether - also sponsor of the event. "What holds value when everything moves?" asks the promo-video of XAUT: "A digital token fully backed by real gold, held in Switzerland." 🤨 According to Paolo - CEO of the company that prints the #Dollar digitally online since 2014 - he really believes in Bitcoin. He talks about #OpenSource Self-Custodial wallets. He addresses debt and (in)equality and #P2P. Four stable pillars he sees for the world are: Finance - Communications - Intelligence and Energy. Tether wants to bring stability to society. The big question: 'Can we believe and trust in that promise?' 🤔 #RutaDeBitcoin🏄‍♂️ #SelfCustody #Mission

"Think of the people here. It's a mission for everyone." Hans ter Laag Hola! Already a few months before our 'Ruta de Bitcoin'-tour I came across a book where Saskia ter Laag writes about her search for justice after the murder of her brother Hans - nearby Chalatenango - in 1982! (Goodreads - in Dutch) 📚 Hans was part of a team of four journalists who were making a documentary of the Civil war. It is a very impressive read, that I can highly recommend. The story is about justice, political battles and journalism - and what it entails - and... grieve. 😢 During the same time in 2025 a Salvadoran court delivered a historic ruling - Grok. Three former high-ranking military officers were convicted of the murders, a staggering 43 years after this crime. It was impressive to see the monument. After this visit we went to Museo Jon Cortina (Wiki) where the villagers kindly helped us to find the woman with the key to open the gate so we could visit! 🙏👨‍🎓😅 #Journalism #Justice #RutaDeBitcoin🏄‍♂️