El Salvador is hosting a wave of Bitcoin-related activities during the first week of April. This time, local private organizations and foreign teams celebrate the Bitcoin Week with parties and gatherings related to the upcoming Bitcoin halving. The halving is an automated process that reduces 50% of the Bitcoin mining reward and occurs every 210,000 blocks, or around four years. This year, the halving is expected to happen on April 19 or 20.
This Bitcoin-themed week started with the Bitcoin Core developer and Ocean Mining Chief Technology Officer, Luke Dashjr giving a keynote to the new cohort of Cubo+ students at the Biblioteca Nacional de El Salvador auditorium. Cubo+ is an elite technical program that aims to create the first generation of Salvadoran Bitcoin developers, that just tripled the number of students, according to the Bitcoin Office.
On the same day, the Bitcoin education NGO Mi Primer Bitcoin hosted a new graduation of its Bitcoin Diploma in San Salvador. By night, they celebrated a charity auction in which they auctioned different items, including a video call with the founder of X (formerly Twitter) and known Bitcoin advocate, Jack Dorsey.
“We had a Bitcoin Diploma graduation in the morning and a charity dinner and auction in the evening—so in the morning, we show our proof-of-work, and in the evening, we ask the community to continue to support that work,” Mi Primer Bitcoin founder John Dennehy explained to me in an interview.
To Dennehy, a seasoned journalist now based in El Salvador, Bitcoin helped to change the narrative and has helped people take a deeper look at El Salvador. “Bitcoin is a big part of it, but it’s much bigger than just that. It’s about hope; it’s about the feeling you get here that tomorrow will be better than today”, he argued.
Nayib Bukele’s administration made Bitcoin legal tender in 2021. More importantly, it initiated a crucial phase in the country’s normalization by focusing on eradicating gangs through a continued state of exception, since 2022. Both security and Bitcoin have been boosting tourism to the country as organizations like Santander US Capital Markets noted. This new reality is drawing the attention of Bitcoin community members worldwide, many of whom travel to El Salvador on a pilgrimage
The Bitcoin Halving, A Reason To Celebrate Among Bitcoiners
The first event announced for these dates, originally conceived a couple of years ago, was the Halving Party, organized by a group of Bitcoin enthusiasts called The Meme Factory. “This is the first halving party, the first celebration where we have people from all over the world. We have people coming from every continent on planet Earth and it’s just been an absolute joy that we get to be able to host everyone coming to El Salvador”, explained to me the event’s co-organizer, Sean harris. Several speakers will participate during The Halving party from April 3 to April 5 at Decameron Slinitas resort.
On April 6 and 7, the El Zonte beach will host the Halving Festival, with several activities organized by the Bitcoin Beach project. “Many people are coming to El Salvador to have fun with the party, but also to verify what is happening in the country,” detailed Roman Martínez, community leader at Bitcoin Beach.
Finally, on April 8, the Bitcoin community built in Berlín, Usulután, will host its first Bitcoin conference, Economía Bitcoin.
“I think Bitcoin Week is a showcase week for all the wonderful things happening here related to Bitcoin—and there are many. I think many people won’t want to leave after they see what’s happening here”, Mi Primer Bitcoin’s Dennehy concluded.
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