You have certainly already heard of certain “bitcoin villages” and perhaps without even knowing what they really are. The first bitcoin village was created in the village of El Zonte in El Salvador, following the legalization of bitcoin as legal tender in the country. Thus the seaside resort very little known thenEl Zonte is now known as “Bitcoin Beach".
The introduction of bitcoin has energized the Salvadoran village which then only lived off the arrival of a few tourists during the annual vacation. Today, the village can boast of having – thanks to bitcoin – developed a true circular economy, beneficial for the entire population. Now the village also attracts bitcoiners from all over the world as well as investors who wish to benefit from this new craze.
It goes without saying that the attraction of foreign capital as well as the creation of new businesses promote the financial inclusion of villagers. This also strengthens the resilience of these villages through the establishment of a true circular economy based on Bitcoin. There is a fervent community of bitcoin supporters who live there and who shape the village around the use of bitcoin. An entire economic ecosystem is being set up with, for example, businesses accepting payment in bitcoin, schools teaching the principles of cryptocurrency, the possibility of paying rent in bitcoin, etc.
The village of El Salvador (Bitcoin Beach): the pioneer village
Le village ofThe Zonte was the pioneer village and other bitcoin villages have appeared since then. The path of hyperbitcoinization then seems to be happening, gradually.
There are now more and more bitcoin villages around the world, and mainly in Latin America and Africa. It is in fact there, in the poorest regions of the world, where the contribution of Bitcoin proves even more useful and necessary. Bitcoin indeed provides the financial infrastructure and an accessible digital currency, elements which are precisely lacking in the vast majority of these regions.
It is likely that such villages will spread more throughout the world, in order to resolve (even if only locally) the endemic problems of unemployment and financial non-inclusion in the most remote villages.
The government has designed a wallet adapted for the use of bitcoin and dollars called “Chivo Wallet”. Likewise, the Blink wallet was also designed for residents before becoming a model for other bitcoin villages.
What are the objectives of creating “bitcoin villages”?
The idea behind the creation of bitcoin villages is to establish a circular economy. The concept of circular economy is generally used from a green growth perspective. Unlike a so-called linear economy, the notion of circularity recommends reusing objects and reducing the use of finite resources. The objective is then to combat waste or loss of resources or energy by creating series of loops.
With the use of bitcoin, the circular economy takes on a new meaning in the sense that bitcoin then serves as an economic “engine” for villagers who can simply create businesses. They can sell services locally or abroad and generate wealth. A simple smartphone and an internet connection are enough to connect them to the rest of the world. Thus, little by little, an economy is being established and that is all that is sought in these villages, which generally do not have any established businesses.
Thus, with the introduction of bitcoin, the most remote regions of the world find a way to insert themselves into the national and even international economy. This explains why the vast majority of bitcoin villages are located in remote regions where there is no creation of wealth possible, other than through the internet.
All bitcoin villages are different even if they are all more or less inspired by the El Zonte model. You should know that the concept of a bitcoin village is still very recent and we are still in its infancy. These are large-scale economic and social experiments whose effectiveness we look forward to measuring with precision.
Let's see here, some villages that deserve our attention.
The village "Bitcoin Ekasi" in South Africa
The one called “Bitcoin Ekasi” was one of the first to follow the village Bitcoin Beach in El Salvador. It is certainly the most famous village after that ofThe Zonte, Besides. Originally, the village was built to create a surf school for the most deprived children in the region. With the introduction of bitcoin, new entities such as shops have been established in Ekasi. Today, it is a real village which enjoys a good reputation in terms of circular economy as the villagers feel “included” in a financial ecosystem from which, not so long ago, they were excluded.
- Twitter account : @BitcoinEkasi
- Website: https://bitcoinekasi.com
The “Bitcoin Lake” or “Lago Bitcoin” village in Guatemala
Another bitcoin village in Latin and Central America with the Bitcoin village called “Bitcoin Lake” in Guatemala. Set up by Patrick Melder, Bitcoin Lake is constantly evolving. The idea of the village was to create a real community using Bitcoin on a daily basis. The village has shops that accept payment in bitcoin, for example, which encourages the surrounding population to be interested in Bitcoin and the opportunities it represents.
Bitcoin Lake has also created a small training school to teach the population the skills, knowledge and skills related to blockchain and Bitcoin.
- Twitter account : @LakeBitcoin
- Website: http://bitcoinlake.io
The “Bitcoin Jungle” in Costa Rica
The “Bitcoin Jungle” village seeks to implement Bitcoin on the one hand but also and above all Bitcoin Lightning Network. It is above all a community and open source project which wants to be built within a new circular economy based on Bitcoin.
The village therefore has a training center to educate the population about Bitcoin and help businesses use it. On the Bitcoin Jungle website, tourists and people who would like to settle on the island can find all the information they need for their stay. They will find the addresses of hotels, restaurants and services thatIt is possible to pay in bitcoin.
Read the article : The Complete Guide to understanding the Lightning Network and knowing how to use it ⚡
- Twitter account : @BitcoinJungleCR
- Website: https://www.bitcoinjungle.app
The “Praia Bitcoin” in Brazil
Directly inspired by “Bitcoin Beach” in El Salvador, the “Priai Bitcoin” was designed as an experiment in the town of Jericoacoara, 300km from Ceara. Again, the idea is to communicate and educate about bitcoin. Praia Bitcoin wants to become a reference village in Brazil and seeks to involve more and more people in the community.
- Twitter: @BitcoinBeachBR
- Website :
The village "AmityAge” in Honduras
Another village built in Central America and more precisely in Honduras. The “Amity Age” village has become the first Bitcoin education center in Honduras, located on the beautiful island of Roatan. The community finances itself by mining bitcoin in Paraguay. With the bitcoins collected, the community can then provide educational services, courses and training to the general public.
It is certainly the most functional bitcoin village (as far as we have been able to see) in the sense that the training is very concrete and targets both individuals and professionals. Moreover, the village also sells payment terminals working with BTCPAY server so that merchants can easily accept bitcoin.
- Twitter account : @AmityAge
- Website: https://bitcoinmtaani.com
The “Bitcoin City” village in Senegal and the “Bitcoin Mtaani” village in East Africa
There is a collective that recently came together to create the community “Bitcoin Teranga” in Senegal. For the moment, the collective is in its infancy and the site is not yet available. However, with the first bitcoin event being organized in 2022, it is very likely that the bitcoin community in the country will grow and organize itself. Remember that Senegal was one of the first countries in the world to be chosen to create a city operating with cryptocurrencies, following the artist's project Akon. However, the pharaonic project is currently far from having respected the announced deadlines...
Regarding the “Bitcoin Mtaani” village, it is currently an online education platform. The particularity of the platform is that it is available in 5 native African languages. These include languages such as Swahili, Yoruba, Lingala, Isizulu and Tosa. At the moment, there is no or very little informative content in these languages.
Read the article : Here are the 10 people who are advancing the use of Bitcoin in Africa
The language barrier has been and still is today an obstacle to learning about bitcoin. Thus, by providing knowledge through videos, audios and articles in the respective languages, Bitcoin Mtaani will then make it possible to spread bitcoin even more in the African continent.
- Twitter account : @BitcoinMtaani
- Website: https://bitcoinmtaani.com
The village "Bitcoin Island” in the Phillippines
There are currently very few bitcoin villages in Asia. In any case, not to our knowledge. However, the Philippines-based “Bitcoin Beach” is starting to become relatively well-known. In reality, it is much more than a village in that the present community organizes events on a national and international scale. The idea is then to create an active community of bitcoiners and promote the use of Bitcoin within the country.
For example, the community has set up its own wallet: Pouch App through which Filipinos can receive and send their first bitcoins.
- Twitter account : @BitcoinBeachPH
- Website: https://cloud21siargao.com
The “Project Mano” project in Ethiopia
This is actually much more than a bitcoin village. However, we wanted to mention here the Mano project because his ambition is to be welcomed. This is an initiative led by what can be described as bitcoin activists who want to make bitcoin a legal tender in the country. The project brings together many people and African entrepreneurs who want to push the adoption of bitcoin in the mainland.
—> To find out more, you can read our article: Project Mano: How Bitcoin Could Strengthen Ethiopia's Economy.
Thus the Mano project is more of a political project with the creation of a real development plan for the country based on bitcoin. This may echo, to a lesser extent, the initiative of the sango corner in the Central African Republic.
- Twitter account: https://twitter.com/projectmano
- Website: https://t.co/0wwRitmWGm
The Bitcoin Village in Nigeria
Nigeria is the leading country in the world in terms of the use of bitcoin in money transfers. Even though the country banned the use of cryptocurrencies in 2017, this did not stop the population from acquiring more and more of them. Moreover, in 2023, the government decided to lift the ban and authorize bitcoin operations (according to a defined regulatory framework).
Nigerians represent the first active community on the peer-to-peer platform on Paxful. This says a lot about the prospects for the use of bitcoin in the country.
Thus, it is not surprising to see bitcoin villages appear in the country in the months and years to come. We can mention the first attempt of its kind based not far from the capital Lagos. The community is also a member of the @SatoshisJournal as well as the Nigeria BTC bitcoin conference (@NigeriaBTCconf).
- Twitter account : @VillageBitcoin
- Website: Not available.
The “Bitcoin Mountain” village in Cameroon
Cameroon is one of the African countries with the highest bitcoin adoption rates. Now, there is a bitcoin village called “Bitcoin Mountain” because it is located near the famous Mount Cameroon, a volcano culminating at more than 4000 meters above sea level. It is still a new community at the moment but the development of the village is on the right track.
- Twitter account: @BitcoinMt
- Website: Not available
The Bitcoin village in Zambia
This is the brand new bitcoin village in Zambia called “Bitcoin Falls” which has just been created in this country bordering Zimbabwe.
Where to find the list of bitcoin villages in the world?
There is a site (https://thebitcoincirculareconomy.wordpress.com) on which all (or almost all) bitcoin villages in the world are listed. The list is continually updated. Don't hesitate to go there to see the news about bitcoin villages and find out about the new villages that have emerged.
You will discover other villages not mentioned here such as those of California, Portugal, Venezuela or even Lebanon.
The list of bitcoin villages keeps growing and who knows? Maybe you'll volunteer to help some villages or even create your own one day?
In any case, this is what we aspire to at ZoneBitcoin and we are currently working on a new village. We will talk to you about it in due time 😉
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Other articles that might interest you:
- Bitcoin Beach: How “El Zonte” became a model for the rest of the world
- Nayib Bukele: “Stop drinking the Kool-Aid of the elites”
- Why does Latin America have everything to gain from Bitcoin?
- Puerto Rico: the Caribbean island attracts more and more bitcoiners
- Geyser: crowdfunding to support bitcoin projects
- Blink Wallet: the wallet suitable for bitcoin villages