El Salvador school program hits 1 BTC in donations

There is a beacon of light in the bear market tunnel. The El Salvador nonprofit program, “My First Bitcoin” (Mi Primer Bitcoin), raised over 1 Bitcoin (BTC) in donations – not from venture capitalists and investors – but from generous Bitcoin education advocates around the world.

Donations poured in from Venezuelans, Poles and Canadians as hundreds of people around the world sent Satoshis (small parts of Bitcoin) over Lightning Work, to fund the expansion of My First Bitcoin’s Bitcoin Diploma program.

Cointelegraph wrote to John Dennehy, founder of the My First Bitcoin program to understand how the crowdfunding campaign reached 1 BTC in less than three weeks. Dennehy told Cointelegraph, “Bitcoin’s greatest potential is to empower the individual, and making it easy to donate value is a big part of that.”

“Bitcoin crowdfunding enables anyone to participate, which is revolutionary compared to the existing fiat system that limits who can participate. This is a way to level the playing field.”

Unlike Paypal or GoFundMe, Bitcoin’s censorship-resistant and self-sovereign properties make it one of the most efficient ways to send money online. Moreover, it is much cheaper. Money is sent over the layer-2 Lightning Network, which costs a fraction of legacy payment services. Dennehy explains:

“Bitcoin crowdfunding is an example of how Bitcoin allows people to take control of their own money.”

The crowdfunding campaign was boosted by efforts made by Bitcoin Beach, the Bitcoin circular community in El Zonte, on El Salvador’s Pacific coast. Bitcoin Beach was the spark that led to Bitcoin being declared legal tender in El Salvador in 2021. On April 27, Bitcoin Beach declared that it would match all donations to the project until midnight on April 27:

However, the campaign had started with lightning-fast levels of generosity. Metamick, the founder of Geyser, told Cointelegraph that it is “Definitely the biggest educational project at Geyser ever! Crazy traction in just one day!” Adding that it is also the third largest crowd fund ever at Geyser after one day.

Related: El Salvador’s ‘My First Bitcoin’: How to Teach a Nation About Crypto

In fact, in April, Bitcoin crowdfunding platform Geyser hit a new record, reaching over 2 BTC in donations submitted:

Overall, despite the Bitcoin price going lower – wiping out traders – the Bitcoin community continues to build and educate. Dennehy sums it up:

“We are inspired every day by the support we receive from the Bitcoin community. We couldn’t do what we do without it.”

To date, My First Bitcoin has educated 6,000 students in El Salvador. Cointelegraph attended the second confirmation ceremony in San Marcos in November 2021.

Blade: What it’s actually like to use Bitcoin in El Salvador