Over 25,000 students in El Salvador have learned about Bitcoin in the classroom.
What Is El Zonte Capital? Could Keiser, Herbert, And Klippsten Shake The Market?
A new investment fund, El Zonte Capital hopes to bring the Bitcoin Beach experience to the whole world. Controversial journalists and podcasters Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert joined forces with Swan Bitcoin’s Cory Klippsten to put their money where their mouth is. El Zonte Capital has $5M in committed funding, and that’s just the beginning.
Related Reading | Cool Valley Mayor Will Airdrop $1000 Worth Of BTC To Each Household
The place where El Salvador’s Bitcoin Law started, El Zonte AKA Bitcoin Beach is the inspiration behind the venture. “El Zonte is hyperbitcoinization. Hyperbitcoinization is economic freedom, and hyperbitcoinization is our main investment thesis,” Keiser said to Bitcoin Magazine.
Max Keiser & Stacy Herbert Launch El Zonte Capital https://t.co/tZvf7u7Pte
— El Zonte Capital 
(@ElZonteCapital) February 15, 2022
For the last two months, Keiser and Herbert experienced the bitcoin life first-hand by living in El Salvador. Speaking about their conversations with politician and merchants around the country, Herbert said, “We’ve been asking hard, deep questions to all of them and discussing their plans extensively. This is the place to be.” Keiser added, “After experiencing what it actually looks like, we see this as the inevitable near future for everyone else. We are riding this wave as any surfer would.”
What Will El Zonte Capital Do?
To get into the meat of things, we give the mic to Bitcoiner Ventures’ Cory Klippsten. He said, “We hope to facilitate a two-way exchange of ideas and resources, with companies around the world bringing their products and services to El Salvador, and companies based in El Salvador exporting their innovation to the rest of the world.”
The trio is no stranger to investing, nor to bitcoin-specific investment. As a partner in Bitcoiner Ventures, Klippsten has a stake in Impervious, social network Zion, the Breeze wallet; and giants like Galoy, Unchained Capital, and Bitrefill. For their part, Keiser and Herbert have investments in Kraken, Swan Bitcoin, and Bitfinex.
BTC price chart for 03/11/2022 on Bitstamp | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
Should You Bet On El Salvador?
El Zonte Capital’s founding members couldn’t be more bullish on bitcoin and El Salvador. Keiser told Bitcoin Magazine, “The future is all around us. I haven’t been this excited about Bitcoin since I first heard about Bitcoin.” Herbert added, “El Salvador is drawing in the smartest, most creative people. Jack Dorsey recently said that ‘a big part of the future is happening in El Salvador,’ and he’s not wrong. The future is now and it is right here”
Bitcoin conversation was had
pic.twitter.com/kOdxvBC9yX
— Stacy Herbert (@stacyherbert) February 11, 2022
Their answer to the title’s question is a resounding yes. “We will look at education and education technology to onboard as many people as possible. El Salvador will be bigger than Singapore.” Keiser’s prediction here is ambitious, to say the least. But bitcoin is legal tender in El Salvador and not Singapore. And bitcoin companies know this.
Can El Zonte Capital Shake The Market?
What does “hyperbitcoinization is our main investment thesis” mean? It means that El Zonte Capital is betting on the whole world adopting bitcoin. Will that happen overnight? Probably not. So, the investment fund is playing the long game. Also, they’re funding companies that will probably take years to take off.
This is the move to watch. Our first true #bitcoin Citadel now has a warchest. Prepare yourselves 
https://t.co/LhpaumPmZm
— Ray Youssef (@raypaxful) March 11, 2022
So, no, El Zonte Capital will not immediately shake the market. However, if you lower your time preference, you’ll be able to see the importance of this investment fund. Their capital allocation aims to make El Salvador’s experiment successful. Plus, they’re not investing in the present of the bitcoin network. El Zonte Capital is looking at the future. Planting the seeds of what is to come.
Related Reading | The 411 On “Adopting Bitcoin,” A Lightning Network Conference in El Salvador
So, yes, El Zonte Capital and the companies they fund will hopefully affect the market at a future date. If everything goes according to plan, hyperbitcoinization will take over the world. That’s the day El Zonte Capital is betting on.
Featured Image by 12019 on Pixabay | Charts by TradingView
Cool Valley Mayor Will Airdrop $1000 Worth Of BTC To Each Household
The small town of Cool Valley, Missouri, lives up to its name. Its mayor, Jayson Stewart, plans to give $1K in bitcoin to each household and the project is fully funded. To top it all of, the airdrop comes with education. The 1500 habitants will learn how to use wallets and interact with the network, and also will be incentivized to HODL the coins they receive. “We’re going to get people storing their own Bitcoin as quickly as possible,” the Cool Valley mayor said.
Related Reading | New To Bitcoin? Learn To Trade Crypto With The NewsBTC Trading Course
Cointelegraph recently interviewed Jayson Stewart, and he told them:
“What really excites me, and what I’m working on, is getting regular people to hold Bitcoin, and for them to really benefit from the appreciation of holding an asset like that.”
About a month ago, the Cool Valley mayor went viral with the plan to do this very thing. At the time, he told KSDK, “I have some very supportive donors who have agreed to match any money that I raise up to several millions of dollars.” And the plan went so well that Steward already has all the funds and then some. Such is the power of the Internet. Such is the power of Bitcoin.
$1,000 #Bitcoin will go to every resident of Cool Valley, Missouri.
The Mayor’s plan is now fully funded!
— Bitcoin Archive 🗄🚀🌔 (@BTC_Archive) September 29, 2021
Will Cool Valley Residents HODL Their Coins?
While the process of how will they distribute the Bitcoin is not yet clear, it seems like they decided to let people spend it if they want. At first, that wasn’t the case. A month ago, the Cool Valley mayor told KSDK, “We’re putting in place like a vesting schedule for Bitcoin. The idea is that maybe you don’t touch it for five years before you really get full access to it. We’re working on ideas like that because that’s my number one concern.”
Now, the plan is to offer the Cool Valley residents an incentive to HODL. This is much more in line with Bitcoin’s philosophy. The recipients will get a still unspecified bonus if they do, or they’ll receive less BTC if they decide to sell. That brings to mind the 2014 experiment at MIT, which had positive results and sparked more than one career in cryptocurrencies.
Back to the more recent interview, the Cool Valley mayor said, “the story got so popular in a way that I never anticipated.” Since they got more donations than they were expecting, Steward plans to use the excedent to convert the government lights to solar power and fund other environmentally friendly projects. “There’s a lot of fear, uncertainty and doubt when it comes to the environmental effects of Bitcoin,” he said. And he’s putting his donors’ Bitcoin where his mouth is.
BTC price chart for 09/30/2021 on Coinbase | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
Bringing Bitcoin Bussines To Missouri
Recently, Stewart joined the Midwest BankCenter’s Advisory Board. This is “a locally owned bank with nearly $2 billion in assets.” In the same breath, he said “I’m trying to get a Bitcoin-friendly bank over here.” We can read between the lines there. Apart from that, Steward said, “We’ve had some people reach out about opening a mining facility.”
Is this man taking a page from Nayib Bukele’s book? El Salvador’s President’s decision to make Bitcoin legal tender has brought a lot of new business to the country, and that experiment is just starting. Reportedly, Cool Valley already hosts one Bitcoin ATM. One ATM and private donations, that’s the way El Zonte started. Are we witnessing another spark in the process towards the hyperbitcoinization of the world? Only time will tell.
Related Reading | Top 5 Crypto Airdrops for May 2021
In another recent interview, this time with Bitcoin Magazine, the Cool Valley mayor praised Bitcoin:
“It’s given me a new way of thinking about humanity in the future,” Stewart said. “It’s given me a hope, and an optimism that we can overcome some of the worst parts of the system that we’re born into, and actually create a future exactly how we want it to be. There’s a certain level of hope and optimism that I get from Bitcoin.”
Bitcoin is hope. And the residents of Cool Valley will soon have the chance to experience the magic first hand.
Featured Image by Bermix Studio on Unsplash – Charts by TradingView
The 411 On “Adopting Bitcoin,” A Lightning Network Conference in El Salvador
Perfect timing and place for a Lightning Network Conference. In less than a week, Bitcoin will be legal tender in El Salvador. The Lightning Network was instrumental for this to happen. The real-life case study for the Lightning Network is El Zonte AKA Bitcoin Beach. And in Mid-November, all of those factors will collide in an event aptly titled “Adopting Bitcoin.”
Related Reading | How Big Is Bitcoin’s Lightning Network? The Answer Will Surprise You
This Lightning Network conference comes with a call-to-action as its unofficial slogan, “Unite, focus, collab!” And, by the looks of Adopting Bitcoin’s official Twitter, the tribe responded to the call and will attend en masse.
Unite, focus, collab! ⚡⚡⚡
"Adopting Bitcoin – A Lightning Summit 2021" #adopt21 brings together the Bitcoin and Lightning communities in El Salvador this November
The focus: transitioning 6+ million people onto the Lightning Network!
More info: https://t.co/WWULQ3STIu
— Adopting Bitcoin (@AdoptingBTC) August 29, 2021
What Characteristics Does This Lightning Network Conference Have?
According to “Adopting Bitcoin‘s” website, their purpose:
“… is bringing together the Bitcoin and Lightning community in San Salvador and El Zonte to create connections and foster the future of money and payments in the Central American republic.”
The Lightning Network Conference has the following characteristics:
- The team behind the Bitcoin Beach Wallet, Galoy, produced the conference.
- “Adopting Bitcoin” is a not-for-profit event.
- The organizers will donate 100% to support Lightning Network development.
- The Lightning Network conference will be both in English and in Spanish.
- “Adopting Bitcoin” will be live-streamed.
- They’ll dedicate Tuesday and Wednesday to hard-core conferencing.
- Thursday they’ll finish the peregrination by visiting the place that started it all, El Zonte. “We will have an organized Bitcoin Bazaar 10a-4p…. with kiosks, stands and food stalls anchored at / near Hope House,” said Galoy’s Co-Founder.
Tuesday and Wednesday are full conference days in San Salvador.
Thursday is more casual in El Zonte. We will have an organized Bitcoin Bazaar 10a-4p…. with kiosks, stands and food stalls anchored at / near Hope House.
R/T bus transport SS <> EZ will be provided.
— Hunter 🌋⚡️🇸🇻 (@btcnyc) August 30, 2021
- The Lightning Network conference is for “early adopters only.” Tickets can only be purchased with bitcoin over the Lightning Network.
- “Adopting Bitcoin” is for “developers, businesses and general enthusiasts to network and form in-person connections.”
Adopting Bitcoin: Lightning Summit in El Salvador. Dates: 16 – 18 November 2021. Tickets can only be paid on the #Bitcoin #LightningNetwork. All proceeds of the conference will be donated to the development of the Lightning Network. https://t.co/vZzQb6MOy9 pic.twitter.com/ivizhyD960
— Bitcoin LightningNetwork+ News ⚡️ (@BTC_LN) August 30, 2021
“Adopting Bitcoin’s” Line Up
Tuesday and Wednesday, the party is in San Salvador’s Sheraton Presidente. Both days contain “Lightning 101” workshops. Among the star lecturers are:
Alex Gladstein, Chief Strategy Officer at the Human Rights Foundation; podcaster extraordinaire Stephan Livera; Bitnob’s Bernard Parah, from Nigeria, one of the protagonists of this historic transaction; “Bitcoin En Español’s” host Camila Campton; Mónica Taher, Tech & Economic International Affairs for El Salvador; Bitcoin Beach’s Mike Peterson, and Paxful’s Ray Youssef.
Full line-up in the Lightning Network Conference ‘s website.
On Thursday 18, the party moves to El Zonte and ends with a literal Taproot Activation Party in El Tunco. For a video tour of both towns, check this mini-documentary out.
BTC price chart for 08/31/2021 on Cexio | Source: BTC/USD on TradingView.com
About Galoy, Organizers Of The Lightning Network Conference
According to their official website, “Galoy offers easy to use Bitcoin ‘Banking-as-a-Service’ (BaaS) products.” They are responsible for the self-referential official wallet for the Bitcoin Beach project. “In October 2020, we launched our branded “Bitcoin Beach” Lightning Wallet in El Zonte.” Galoy describes itself as:
“… a B2B company, serving organizations that embrace Bitcoin as money. We build on the Bitcoin Protocol and the Layer 2 Lightning Network, utilizing the tools created by the team at Lightning Labs.”
Related Reading | Are The Lightning Network’s Almost-Free Transactions The Killer App BTC Needed?
And now, they’re contributing to the Bitcoin ecosystem with this not-for-profit Lightning Network Conference in El Salvador. One that requires that you actually use the novel network to purchase the coveted ticket. And donates all proceeds to Lightning development.
Nice.
Featured Image: Adopting Bitcoin’s logo | Charts by TradingView
