There is a light in the bear market tunnel. Salvadoran non-profit program Mi Primer Bitcoin, or My First Bitcoin, has raised 1 bitcoin.
BTC
Tickers down
$29,040
In donations – not from venture capitalists and investors, but from generous Bitcoin education advocates around the world.
Donations poured in from countries like Venezuela, Poland, and Canada as hundreds of people from around the world sent satoshis (the smallest denominations of bitcoin) through the Lightning Network to fund the expansion of My First Bitcoin’s Bitcoin Diploma program.
Cointelegraph reached out to John Denny, founder of MyFirstBitcoin, to learn how a crowdfunding campaign reached 1 BTC in three weeks. Dennehy told Cointelegraph, “Bitcoin’s biggest potential is empowering the individual, and making it easy to contribute value is a big part of that.”
“Bitcoin crowdfunding makes it possible for anyone to participate, which is revolutionary compared to the existing fiat system that restricts who can participate. It’s a way to level the playing field.
Unlike PayPal or GoFundMe, Bitcoin’s censorship-resistant, self-sovereign properties make it one of the most efficient ways to send money online. Also, it is very cheap. Sending money over the Layer-2 Lightning network costs a fraction of legacy payment services. Dennehy explained:
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“Bitcoin crowdfunding is an example of how bitcoin allows people to take control of their own money.”
The crowdfunding campaign was boosted by the efforts of Bitcoin Beach, a Bitcoin circular community in El Zonda on the Pacific coast of El Salvador. Bitcoin Beach was the spark that led to the announcement of BTC legal tender in El Salvador in 2021. On April 27th, Bitcoin Beach announced that it would match all contributions to the project until midnight on April 27th:
Regardless, the campaign began with lightning-fast generosity. Metamic, founder of Bitcoin crowdfunding platform Geyser — which used My First Bitcoin to fundraise — told Cointelegraph, “Definitely the biggest education project ever on Geyser! Crazy traction in one day!” He added, adding that this is Geyser’s third largest crowdfund after just one day.
Related: El Salvador’s ‘My First Bitcoin’: How to Teach a Nation About Crypto
Geyser hit a new record in April, reaching 2 BTC in donations:
Geyser fundraising levels per month. Source: Kevin Rook on Twitter
Despite the falling price of Bitcoin – eliminating traders – the Bitcoin community continues to build and educate. As Dennehy summarized:
“We are inspired every day by the support we receive from the Bitcoin community. We couldn’t do what we do without it. “
