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There is a beam of light in the bear market tunnel. El Salvador’s non-profit My First Bitcoin (Mi Primer Bitcoin) program has raised more than 1 Bitcoin (BTC) in donations – not from venture capitalists and investors, but from generous advocates of bitcoin education around the world.
Donations poured in from Venezuelans, Poles and Canadians as hundreds of people from around the world sent satoshis (small bits of Bitcoin) via Lightning Work to fund the expansion of My First Bitcoin’s Bitcoin Diploma program.
We did it! We crowdfunded 1 BTC on @geyserfund April
A matching donation from @bitcoinbeach put us over the top last night–what a way to end the month 🙂
Huge THANK YOU to the 250+ donors who got us here
This is a movement that we are all part of & edu is how we will win
— Mi Primer Bitcoin (@MyfirstBitcoin_) May 1, 2023
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 biggest potential lies in human empowerment, and a big part of that is to make it easier to donate.”
“Bitcoin crowdfunding allows anyone to participate, which is revolutionary compared to the current fiat system, which limits who can participate. It’s a way to level the playing field.”
Unlike Paypal or GoFundMe, Bitcoin is resistant to censorship and self-sufficiency, making it one of the most efficient ways to send money online. Plus, it’s much cheaper. Money is sent through the Layer 2 Lightning Network, which costs several times less than legacy payment services. Dennehy explains:
“Bitcoin crowdfunding is an example of how bitcoin allows people to control their own money.”
The crowdfunding campaign was backed by the efforts of Bitcoin Beach, a circular Bitcoin community in El Zonte, on the Pacific coast of El Salvador. Bitcoin Beach was the spark that led to Bitcoin being declared legal tender in El Salvador in 2021. On April 27th, Bitcoin Beach announced that it would pay all donations to the project by midnight on April 27th:
For those of you waiting to donate till #BTC goes back to $60k You can effectively do that for the next hour——-For the next hour we will match your donations to@MyfirstBitcoin_so double your giving power Primer Bitcoin 2- 2023 Expansion | Geyser https://t.co/F4w29zXNYQ
— Bitcoin Beach (@Bitcoinbeach) April 27, 2023
However, the campaign began with lightning-fast generosity. Metamik, the founder of Geyser, told Cointelegraph that this is “definitely the biggest Geyser educational project ever! Crazy cravings in just a day!” Adding to that, it’s also the third largest single day Geyser crowdfunding ever.
Related: El Salvador’s ‘My First Bitcoin’: How to Teach the Nation About Cryptocurrency
Indeed, in April, Bitcoin crowdfunding platform Geyser set a new record by reaching over 2 BTC sent in donations:
In general, despite the fact that the price of bitcoin falls and destroys traders, the bitcoin community continues to form and learn. Dennehy summarizes:
“Every day we are inspired by the support we receive from the bitcoin community. Without him, we wouldn’t be able to do what we do.”
To date, My First Bitcoin has trained 6,000 students in El Salvador. Cointelegraph attended the second graduation ceremony in San Marcos in November 2021.