Roman Martínez (Chimbera): Bitcoin Adoption in El Salvador, Investing in Children, & Hope House
“Bitcoin is the most inclusive tool, asset, and technology that humanity has ever had.”
Hi friends, it’s been a while! This is the last piece of my 3-part interview series. I wanted to send it ahead of the Adopting Bitcoin Conference but, unfortunately, some personal things came up preventing me to do so. Alas, here is my interview with Chimbera!
**This piece is a summary of our conversation. I encourage you to listen to our full conversation on Spotify or Fountain.
Photo credit: Eduardo Iraheta
Sometimes in life you meet people that are beacons of hope. Such a person was Chimbera to the community of El Zonte (a community in El Salvador which would eventually inspire the nation to adopt bitcoin as legal tender).
Chimbera – whose real name is Roman Martínez – is a Salvadoran surfer, a bitcoiner, community leader of Bitcoin Beach, and one of the founders of Hope House. He was also a speaker at the Adopting Bitcoin Conference in El Salvador.
As two latinos, we shared a heartfelt conversation about the hardships our parents had to endure to help us move forward and how by that process they had to surrender their dreams. We also talked about him growing up in El Salvador, how he introduced bitcoin to the youth of El Zonte, and how he onboarded merchants onto Bitcoin.
I even asked him whether President Bukele making bitcoin legal tender in El Salvador was a good or a bad thing – his answer surprised and humbled me!
This was a conversation I hold dear to my heart because of Chimbera’s wisdom, spirituality, love and dedication for his own people. I hope you appreciate Chimbera’s big heart and vision for his beloved community as much as I do.
A Surfer Boy Grows Up in El Zonte
Chimbera grew up in El Zonte, a small surftown on the Pacific Coast of El Salvador with a population of 3,000 people.
Living on the coast meant surfing and eating fish for dinner – a meal that in any other part of the world would be considered a luxury. But for Chimbera, eating fish was a convenience since his father and grandfather were both fishermen. Like them, Chimbera thought he would grow up to become a fisherman too.
“I thought I will become a fisherman in the future. I don't have [anything] but I think like [fishing is] one of the best lifestyles… It is really simple… At the time, those were the only chances. Or become a farmer.”
Then, through a set of unfortunate and unfair events, Chimbera and his family would live on the streets for seven years. It was a result of their home being taken away by “property takers.”
“I remember we cry. We cry a lot. Feeling like ‘why life has to be like this?’ And if we didn't do something about it, anything about it, this is just going to be a cycle you know? A cycle that will repeat and repeat and repeat.”
Hearing him say those words was a harsh reminder that we don’t really ever own anything, not even our homes. Because even these assets run the risk of confiscation by the wrong people, the wrong banks, or the wrong governments (albeit relatively small in some countries).
It’s not surprising that living in this environment – gripped by systemic poverty, a lack of opportunities and corruption – made it impossible for Chimbera to dream of a better life in El Salvador.
“When we were kids, the opportunities here were almost nothing, you know. Like everyone was dreaming to leave the country, to get to the U.S.A, working there, and trying to send money back to help the families here.”
Luckily for Chimbera, there were people who entered his life as a child, who taught him to dream and expanded his way of thinking about the world.
“[Those conversations with foreigners] open doors, you know? Open doors in your mindset because the dream started there that one day you want to do things that you don't see in your community. But you had people coming here and telling you a different lifestyle, or a different way to see life. So, that cultural change, that opportunity that we had to have people… change, change your life.”
If there’s one truth it’s that children are changed by the people who love and invest in them.
Paying It Forward: Investing in Children to Change the Future of El Salvador
Today, Chimbera spends his time investing in the youth of El Zonte through projects like Hope House – or “Casa Esperanza” in Spanish – and Bitcoin Beach, which seek to offer the youth with community, perspective and resources to improve their lives.
“[Hope House was] a dream of Mike, a dream of Jorge, Hirvin, a dream of mine, and our team. It's that common dream, you know? Un sueño colectivo [collective dream]...it's not like a dream of someone. It's a dream for everyone. That Hope House [has] to be – that fuente (fountain) – that community center where kids can find hope.”
Early on, Hope House noticed that kids were leaving El Zonte because no one was investing time in their lives, which they sought to fix.
“And the first project was just… spending quality time with the kids, getting together once per week talking about God, spirituality part, playing, being kids, you know? Spending time with the kids. This is how the first project was called ‘Llenando el Tanque de Amor de los Niños y Niñas del Zonte’ (which translates to “filling the love tank of the boys and girls of El Zonte).”
In addition to quality time, Chimbera and the Hope House team began teaching the children the importance of dreaming because “you have a reason to wake up in the morning.”
However, it’s not enough to tell a child to dream. You must show them the framework and provide guidelines for turning dreams into reality. It’s a skill and an art that must be taught.
“This is why at Hope House we realize that if we want to empower our kids here, we need to give them those tools. Those tools that they will need to fight for their dreams here and stop leaving the country to get to the U.S.A. and working there because that was the only chance that we were seeing as the kids, you know?”
Throughout the 13 years of existence, Hope House has taught kids English, computer skills, surfing, and provided scholarships for university. They’re also teaching them about bitcoin! In this way, kids will not fall behind from one of the greatest inventions of our time.
“Some of these kids that came to the first project [are] around 21 years old, 22 years old… One of the kids, for example, he had two business ideas. He knows English. He knows computer skills. He's in high school. Some other kids are at the university. But they’re motivated.
And when I talk [with them], I always ask them like: ‘Do you want to leave? Do you want to leave to the U.S.A?’ They're like: ‘No! I want to go in vacation but I don't want to live there.’ And you're like: ‘wow, that's… that's… that's exciting!’
I can’t help but wonder – could a child wanting to stay, live and work in their home country be one of the best indicators of the health of a nation? I think so.
From Children to Merchants: Onboarding the Community onto Bitcoin
As Chimbera tells me about the community programs created by Hope House and Bitcoin Beach, I ask him how it was that they started implementing bitcoin adoption in the community.
“So [at] the beginning was like, give rewards to the kids for being good students. Or hire people that it was hard for them to find like a job in our community. So, we hire them and we pay in bitcoin.”
At the time, merchants in El Zonte were suffering because the COVID-19 pandemic had hit. Understanding the need to stimulate the local economy, Chimbera began onboarding merchants to bitcoin through a 1:1, time-intensive process.
“I remember, all the community over the phone, [telling them] download the [bitcoin] wallet, take a screenshot, send it to this group. We will deposit you some money… You will see your balance there.
And we [onboarded] all the community – like around 500 families more or less here… And then for the majority of the people, it was like something weird but ‘if it's free and we're going to be able to buy our basic needs. I'm willing to take it,’ you know?”
While onboarding the community onto bitcoin, Chimbera discovered one fascinating fact.
“What we didn't realize was that [onboarding to bitcoin] was the first time that people were transacting digitally… 70% of the entire population of El Salvador didn't have access to a bank account before bitcoin, you know? And in our community [in El Zonte it] was 90% of the people.”
Of course, there were locals who worried about bitcoin’s price volatility. To help ease their nerves, Chimbera would tell them:
“Don't worry, just write [it] on paper, like how much you're selling in dollars. And in the end of the week when you want to cash out – if you have less in your bitcoin wallet – well, we will give it to you, the difference.”
(In the short-term, this was funded by donations of an anonymous bitcoiner.)
This was of course a way to help the merchants feel safe as they embarked on their bitcoin journey for the first time; a journey which can be marred with fear, doubt and uncertainty.
Little by little, the locals learned about the characteristics and value of bitcoin beyond its price point. That you could transact digitally, globally, at incredible speed, with ease and low costs thanks to the lightning network (a payments layer applied on top of the Bitcoin network). They began to pay for goods and services — such as their water bills, electricity and food — with bitcoin.
That was how the community of El Zonte came to use bitcoin as money.
Bitcoin Adoption Takes Off in El Salvador
Eventually, the whole country would follow suit. President Bukele acknowledged the significance of bitcoin and took a huge political risk by making bitcoin legal tender in September 2021. Today, Salvadorans can use both the U.S. Dollars (USD) and bitcoin as forms of payment.
“How the government rolled out bitcoin adoption in the country was that they built in the Chivo [bitcoin wallet] app. And they put in two balances in the same wallet. So, the people have bitcoin and dollars in the same wallet.
So, if you are a tourist and you want to pay with bitcoin, the merchant [has] the option to receive that payment from bitcoin or they can receive it directly in dollars. [Having USD and bitcoin makes] a lot of sense for small merchants – they need to invest the next day. [To] rebuy things you know, buy new things for making pupusas (El Salvador’s local food) again, for example…
So, all they are receiving in bitcoin they can convert [to USD] inside of the wallet, you know, with a few pennies of commissions but I think that was one of the good things.”
Having the ability to toggle between bitcoin and USD allowed Salvadorans to spend dollars as needed in the short-term and to invest in bitcoin over the long-term, should they choose to do so. They could also convert and keep everything in bitcoin, or in USD.
In a way, it gave Salvadorans the freedom to choose their currency, to decide for themselves where they stored their value and where they invested in (and how they handled bitcoin’s short-term price volatility).
To get more clarity, I ask Chimbera: how exactly are Salvadorans using bitcoin?
“For the majority of the people, [bitcoin] is an asset. But in El Salvador [it’s] a currency and Bitcoin is also a monetary network and it's also like a software. It's a full technology. But how we benefit from Bitcoin as a country is we're using Bitcoin as a monetary network.”
While national bitcoin adoption is great, I know much has been said about President Bukele making bitcoin legal tender in El Salvador.
On the one hand, some bitcoiners believe that an authoritarian, top-down approach to bitcoin adoption goes against the principles of bitcoin – mainly freedom to choose and use bitcoin as people would like. On their terms and timing. Even if it’s beneficial to a group of people, it should never be enforced by law or by force or by a president.
Then you have other bitcoiners who will argue that to get to a level of mass adoption you need government intervention. Otherwise adoption (and trust of Bitcoin) at scale will never happen.
And of course, there are a bunch of other bitcoiners somewhere along that spectrum.
There’s also the fact that there have been plenty of complaints regarding the launch of the Chivo [bitcoin wallet] app. These include bugs within the app, the fact it was created and managed by the government (which could theoretically put people’s bitcoin at risk), and a lack of education around bitcoin and wallets.
All fair complaints.
I ask: “maybe it wasn't so good that President Bukele made [bitcoin] legal tender. People should have adopted [bitcoin] on their own. I'm curious to hear if you have any thoughts on that.”
“That's a good question… When people are thinking – and this [mainly comes from] bitcoiners saying like, ‘that was not the right way.’
I ask: ‘what's the best way? What's the right way?’
There is no right way when you're the first one. And it's a learning process, you know? You build and you learn. But I see the benefit. When you see like… in the news saying ‘only 20% of the merchants in El Salvador are accepting bitcoin payments.’
But 20% in one year, that’s a lot!”
He adds:
“Just three years ago, we were sitting with the first merchants, teaching them how to accept bitcoin. And now I see families and people coming here and buying houses with bitcoin.”
He’s got a point.
Adoption of money and technology is rarely an overnight success. Like the adoption of the internet or the credit card or the microwave, things take time to be understood, to be trusted, and adopted.
Bukele also understood the benefits of Bitcoin in helping to bank Salvadorans who for too long have remained unbanked, stuck in an un-ending rat race, unable to build any wealth, suffering under the weight of a devaluing currency (the USD as they no longer had their own currency) and the tight grip of the U.S. government which was exploiting their country.
To break away from the suffocating foothold of the U.S. empire, El Salvador adopted a currency that could not be manipulated or sanctioned by the U.S. That would be global, digital, scarce and secure. That would allow Salvadorans to use, save and invest in easily. That would liberate Salvadorans for the first time in a long time... And that currency was bitcoin.
Bukele likely understood there would be short-term pains along the way but that these pains would be ironed out with time. At least, maybe in his eyes, he was taking the first step to free his own people. And he probably bet that over the long-run, all this would be worth it.
So to brush off bitcoin and say it’s been a failure is a statement that time could prove epically wrong. Like time has done for all the other great inventions throughout history. And whether governmental interference was the right or wrong way to implement bitcoin adoption in El Salvador will be one of times most fascinating, hotly debated, unanswered questions of our time.
The Effects of Bitcoin on Salvadorans Lives
Possibly the biggest gift that bitcoin brought to Salvadorans was financial connectivity. While many of us enjoy the benefits of Venmo, Cash App, or Interac e-Transfers, Salvadorans are excluded from such services.
Financial apartheid in a way.
“If you were born in the U.S.A, if you were born in Canada, if you were born in Australia, you already have more opportunities than the rest of the world…You understand how important it is to be [connected] to the financial system, you know.
[With bitcoin you] can transact digitally, you can send money, you can save money, [you can] dream. If people don't have access [to money], they will never dream.”
Beyond tapping into a global monetary system that empowers Salvadorans to save, dream and build, bitcoin is also bringing a lot of tourism back into the country.
“When you see that the tourism [has] been growing by 30% in the last two years and bitcoin [has] been playing a really important role in this; when you see the families from all over the world moving here… You will meet some people that they are living here thanks to bitcoin…
You say like, ‘bitcoin is not working?!’ I don't think so, man. It's just we’re too early, but that is working, it’s working.”
In addition to tourism, Bitcoin is helping bring jobs back into El Salvador, fuelling innovation and entrepreneurship.
“When you see all the merchants, all the companies that have been setting their legal entities here in El Salvador and that they’re hiring local people. When we sit here with companies that come and say:
‘Hey, we want to hire local people. Do you know where we can find developers? Where we can find programmers? Where we can find web design or people that can speak perfect English for marketing?’ You know, every kind of position.”
Bitcoin has brought in opportunities that otherwise wouldn't have existed in El Salvador. Bitcoin is showing us that it’s not just good for communities, but nation states, and humanity too.
“Bitcoin is the most inclusive tool asset technology that humanity ever had.”
Adopting Bitcoin Conference
Although I wasn’t able to publish this piece ahead of the Adopting Bitcoin Conference, I would still like to share with you what Chimbera was hoping to speak about. Below this excerpt, you’ll be able to watch the recording of his presentation.
“We're going to be in a panel [of] four different projects… With a project from South Africa, Bitcoin Ekasi, with Bitcoin Lake and a project from Texas…. I think it's going to be super, super interesting to see because we're from different parts, you know, different communities that are using bitcoin… Like every project has been developing their own ways and we all benefit from the same technology in different ways.
And so I think it will be super interesting to have a context like ‘what bitcoin is.’ And it's not just like a volatility, volatility currency, like the media says. It's not just like an asset… It's everything you know… And also we're going to talk a little bit about how to build communities.
Because it’s not just onboarding merchants. It's like a gift to give – preparing people to take advantage of this new technology.”
**You can watch the recording of Chimbera’s presentation here.
Conclusion
It’s a wonderful thing when you meet people dedicated to improving their local communities because sometimes it’s easier to walk away from the demise of your hometown and find a better life elsewhere.
But the visionaries, the hopeful ones, focus on helping their people. On improving their communities. On rebuilding.
Chimbera is reminding his community to enliven their dreams, to build the future of El Salvador and encouraging their diaspora to return back home.
“And one of the things that I see now is that before people were not dreaming. Now, people are dreaming. People have hope [with bitcoin] and there are so many people around the world dreaming with El Salvador.”
What Chimbera and El Salvador are building today may be the framework and the infrastructure that will help Bitcoin scale across the world.
If not that, then it’s giving the inspiration for a better financial system with Bitcoin. One which will hopefully help liberate the billions of people living in oppressive regimes and under collapsing economies in Africa, Latin America, and Asia.
El Salvador is the first domino to fall. We should consider ourselves lucky to watch the rest of the dominoes fall. It will be a tale to tell our grandchildren.
**You can listen to our whole conversation on Spotify or Fountain.