“From the start, the conversation was about financial inclusion, open systems, open monetary networks, free markets, how the existing financial system is broken, and how in theory, the world is a much more free, economically liberal place if the monetary network is Bitcoin.”
— Jack Mallers

Location: El Salvador
Date: Thursday 17th June
Project: Strike
Role: CEO

El Salvador made history by becoming the first country to embrace bitcoin as legal tender. This bold step to adopt Bitcoin empowers Salvadorians and utilises Bitcoin's powerful technology to build a better financial future for the country. 

As a dollarised country, El Salvador is at the whim of the Fed, and the groundbreaking legislation included this excerpt:

"Central banks are increasingly taking actions that may cause harm to the economic stability of El Salvador; That in order to mitigate the negative impact from central banks, it becomes necessary to authorise the circulation of a digital currency with a supply that cannot be controlled by any central bank."

The bitcoin project in El Salvador has a long history; Bitcoin Beach, a project started by Michael Peterson in El Zonte, a surf town that has become a bitcoin hub in El Salvador. This local project has become the poster child of what a bitcoin community and economy can look like.

Jack Mallers and the Strike team have taken El Salvador by storm, but this story is bigger than any one person. From Bitcoin Beach to developers, and the entire community, every bitcoiner played a part in bringing a fair and inclusive financial future to El Salvador.

In this interview, I talk to Jack Mallers, CEO of Strike. We discuss the story that led to Bitcoin as legal tender in El Salvador, all the credit due to the community, and his mission to secure financial freedom for all.

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WBD362 - Show Notes

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