'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!
