Bitcoin Core Dev Warns Bitcoin Payments Vanish at Bitcoin Beach

‘Pretty Depressing’: Bitcoin Developer Laments Low Bitcoin Payment Adoption in El Salvador

The statements of a Bitcoin Core collaborator commenting on the state of bitcoin payments in El Salvador have awakened concerns about the low adoption level of bitcoin in the country, even as it has been globally promoted as the first bitcoin Country after passing the so-called bitcoin law in 2021.

Jon Atack, a Bitcoin Core contributor since 2019 who has been living in El Salvador since 2022 and was temporarily arrested last year, raised concerns among bitcoin proponents on social media when he shared his experience after paying with bitcoin in El Zonte, a Salvadoran region known as an adoption hotspot.

“Lunched in El Zonte (Bitcoin Beach) today. After I paid, they told me it was the first bitcoin payment there all month, going on to describe how before, they used to see many payments in bitcoin, and that now it’s practically non existent. Pretty depressing,” Atack declared.

He added that after asking about how most customers paid, he was told that almost all customers paid by card.

“I then asked if she wanted a tip in sats, but she had forgotten how to use her bitcoin app and didn’t really want any: ‘It’s dead,'” he said.