Our actions
Making sense of Web3 for sustainability and human rights
In brief:
During our research in El Salvador, we had the opportunity to immerse ourselves in the context and its people: their views, ways of being, and aspirations for the future.
On the one hand, this research explores the current fights of Salvadorian activists and civil sector organizations and co-imagines preferable and relevant futures for Web3 through futures design exercises. On the other hand, it gathers our observations of Bitcoin detractors and enthusiasts that have allowed us to understand some drivers and barriers to be considered during these hyperbitcoinisation processes.
Sector:
Web3, Bitcoin, Blockchain
Location:
El Salvador
Year:
2022
El Salvador is the smallest Central American country. It has a population of around 6.5 million people. Many Salvadorans (about 3 million) live outside the country due to emigration processes over the past decades. The country does not have any particular economic activity to highlight, and most of its population lives in poverty. This partly explains why many people have preferred to look for opportunities outside.
As of June 2021, Bitcoin was introduced as a legal currency in El Salvador. Among the reasons cited for this adoption, one can find the increased costs of transactions in USD. The country also seeks to benefit the poor with the introduction of Bitcoin.
El Salvador has been one of the first countries to introduce Bitcoin legally, implementing an ambitious plan to promote its use among citizens. It is still too soon to tell if it has been a success or not, but there are mixed opinions about it.
Futures co-design - The Three Horizon Method
The three horizons method is a foresight tool created by Bill Sharpe for having strategic and innovative conversations for desired futures through systemic understanding. The matrix describes three ways of looking at reality and how they evolve and interact with each other:
Horizon 1 (H1) – The dominant pattern of how things are done and seen today.
Horizon 2 (H2) – The emerging innovation that has the potential to change things shortly.
Horizon 3 (H3) – The visionary ideas that have not yet become patterns but may become the new dominant in the future.
We were able to rethink with several grassroots social organizations in three different geographies of the country to find other futures where technology, especially the Web3, becomes an ally in the fights to enhance desirable scenarios and mitigate risks.
Bitcoin adoption - Drivers & Barriers
We found different views and perspectives towards Bitcoin in El Salvador. From the guerrilla conversations, the workshops, and the interviews that involved three different macro-contexts, we realized the barriers and drivers towards an organic and social adoption of projects of this type.
In El Salvador, there have been two parallel processes regarding the adoption of bitcoin:
Case El Zonte – Bottom-Up Solution: a beach community that adopted Bitcoin thanks to the involvement and contribution of external donors and their knit relationship with the community.
Case Suchitoto – Top Down Solution: for legalizing Bitcoin as a national currency and a large-scale implementation – for this case, we visited Suchitoto, a small town in the mountains.
The contrast of these two strategies gives us a unique perspective for understanding the critical factors of adoption for Bitcoin and other Web3 projects. We could see significant differences in how people think and relate to the currency depending on how it has been introduced, with significant adoption and a more positive perception of Bitcoin in El Zonte than in other regions.
Bottom line
El Salvador is undoubtedly a fascinating country. Despite its challenges, its beautiful geography and the warmth of its people will keep the country on everyone’s lips for a long time to come.
We confirm that Web3 has a space of opportunity to rethink the concept of “development”, empowering communities, and achieving socially just and environmentally responsible futures in the Global South.
