Bitcoiners - Live From Bitcoin Beach

Hosted by Mike Peterson

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241

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Oct 2026

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About the show

Live From Bitcoin Beach! This channel is an opportunity to showcase the thoughts and views of Bitcoiners coming through El Zonte, El Salvador. Also known as Bitcoin Beach, this location is ground zero of the Bitcoin and Orange Pill revolution sweeping the nation since President Nayib Bukele made Bitcoin legal tender. We showcase the bustling Salvadoran Bitcoin community, thriving day-to-day using BTC as actual money. From local Bitcoiners to to well-known figures like Giacomo Zucco of Plan B Network, Francis Pouliot of Bull Bitcoin, Robert Breedlove of the What Is Money Show, Max Keiser & Stacy Herbert, Greg Foss of Looking Glass Education, Dr. Jack Kruse of Kruse Longevity Center, and many others, we'll provide an insider's perspective on how Bitcoin adoption in El Salvador is reshaping the landscape locally and globally. We will also be discussing practical tips for those considering moving to El Salvador. Make sure to subscribe and leave us a review on all podcast platforms!

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October 10, 202642 min

He Grew Up With Gang Members in El Salvador. Now He Runs a Car Shop That Takes Bitcoin. | Byron Espinoza of Taller Automotriz Express

Is El Salvador safe enough to run a business that takes Bitcoin and go running at night? This Salvadoran entrepreneur says yes! Mike sits down with Byron Espinoza, a young Salvadoran who opened a car repair shop with his cousin at 23. He grew up in a neighborhood where the gang members were his childhood friends, and he's had guns pointed at him more than once. So when neighbors warned him that drug dealers would show up at his new shop and pressure him to sell for them, he was afraid. It never happened. The crackdown on El Salvador gangs was underway, the extortion payments that drove many businesses under came to an end, and Byron says business owners finally keep what they earn. Today he feels comfortable running his shop anywhere. That freedom let the shop grow in a direction he didn't expect. About three months after opening, a Bitcoiner named Richard started bringing him cars to check, on one condition. Byron had to accept Bitcoin. He was nervous, studied it, and said yes. Customers pay him in Bitcoin today, he decides whether to keep it or move it to dollars, and he's encouraging his friends to start accepting it in their businesses too. Taking Bitcoin brought him customers most local shops never see. For expats living in El Salvador who don't speak Spanish, a mechanic who speaks English and accepts Bitcoin is a big benefit, and 20 to 25% of Byron's customers are foreigners. For anyone browsing cars in El Salvador for sale, his used car inspection checks the VIN history for hidden damage and mileage before they commit. He tells the story of an American couple who skipped a car agency because so few accept Bitcoin, and says that if he ran one, he'd take it without thinking twice. Byron is honest about what the change has cost. El Salvador crime hasn't disappeared, he has noticed theft that didn't happen before, and two of his friends were arrested without evidence and have spent two years in jail. He sees all of it as a process the country is still working through. He calls himself a survivor of the old El Salvador who can go out at 11 at night, and Mike calls him one of the success stories of the new one! If you're thinking about opening a business here or accepting Bitcoin, listen to this one first. —Bitcoin Beach Team Learn more about Byron Espinoza: Mobile #: +503 6863 2519 IG: https://www.instagram.com/tallerexpressx/ FB: https://www.facebook.com/p/Taller-Automotriz-Express-61555288906787/ Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@tallerautomotrizexpress Support and follow Bitcoin Beach: X: https://www.twitter.com/BitcoinBeach IG: https://www.instagram.com/bitcoinbeach_sv TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@livefrombitcoinbeach Web: https://www.bitcoinbeach.com STAY AT BITCOIN BEACH: https://www.stayatbitcoinbeach.com/punta-mango-villas Browse through this quick guide to learn more about the episode: 00:00 Intro 01:44 How did a young Salvadoran start a repair shop in El Salvador? 03:39 Why do expats living in El Salvador do car preventive maintenance? 06:50 What's it like starting a business in El Salvador at 23? 10:42 How did a Salvadoran mechanic start accepting Bitcoin payments? 13:39 Can you buy a car with Bitcoin in El Salvador? 15:36 Buying cars in El Salvador, imported used car or agency car? 19:11 Can a used car inspection and VIN check spot odometer fraud? 21:40 Is El Salvador safe after the crackdown on El Salvador gangs? 36:59 Where to find a mechanic in El Salvador that accepts Bitcoin? Live From Bitcoin Beach

October 3, 202645 min

What's Coming to El Salvador's Bitcoin Economy Is Bigger Than Anyone Expected | Jose Rodriguez of Nodeman

Is El Salvador the freest country on earth for a Bitcoin business, or the most heavily KYC'd place a Bitcoiner could choose? Anyone who has bought El Salvador real estate lately has an opinion, and so does the lawyer who reads the regulations for a living. You already know this is Bitcoin Country. What you can't tell from the outside is why the El Salvador banks turned Bitcoin companies away for years, what the digital assets law lets you build here, and who is actually asking the questions at a property closing. Mike sits down with Jose Rodriguez, a lawyer with Nodeman, a Bitcoin-centric legal firm that helped draft some of these regulations and has followed this since day one. Jose explains the bank refusals in layers. The first is political and goes back to who owned the banks when the Bitcoin Law passed. The second is the AML KYC pressure that reaches every Salvadoran bank through FATF, GAFILAT and the US correspondent accounts it depends on to move money in and out of the country. Then he explains what changed in the US that finally opened the doors. Three banks now hold licenses, and a Bitcoin bank is on the way. Then the conversation turns to KYC requirements on property. Jose describes who is asking where a buyer's money came from, and in most cases it isn't the seller. He also says the KYC regulations changed recently, raising the threshold from $1,000 to $25,000, while one government office still hasn't issued the guidelines eight months later. Buying property in El Salvador should look different once that clears. The second half covers the Digital Assets Law. Jose describes what real estate tokenization means today, which company structure makes it legal, and the two laws still standing between El Salvador and a property title that lives on a token. He's blunt about lawyers who wave through deals they don't understand. El Salvador has spent five years writing clear rules for Bitcoin businesses, and this is what those rules look like from inside the paperwork! If you're planning to run a business here, bank here, or buy here, listen to this one before you sign anything. —Bitcoin Beach Team Learn more about Jose Rodriguez: X: https://x.com/nodemanbtc Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nodeman Website: https://nodeman.co/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nodemanbtc/ Email: j@nodeman.co Support and follow Bitcoin Beach: X: https://www.twitter.com/BitcoinBeach IG: https://www.instagram.com/bitcoinbeach_sv TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@livefrombitcoinbeach Web: https://www.bitcoinbeach.com STAY AT BITCOIN BEACH: https://www.stayatbitcoinbeach.com/punta-mango-villas Browse through this quick guide to learn more about the episode: 00:00 Intro 01:55 Why did El Salvador banks refuse Bitcoin companies after the Bitcoin Law? 04:21 How do FATF and GAFILAT rules apply to Bitcoin in El Salvador? 09:19 How many El Salvador banks work with Bitcoin companies in 2026? 15:15 What are the KYC requirements for buying property in El Salvador? 18:42 Does the bank or the seller do KYC on a Bitcoin real estate purchase in El Salvador? 22:16 Is there no KYC under $25,000 in El Salvador under the new regulations? 23:14 What is El Salvador's Digital Assets Law and is it Bitcoin-only? 35:25 Is real estate tokenization legal in El Salvador? 39:34 What license does a Bitcoin business need to operate in El Salvador? Live From Bitcoin Beach

September 26, 202641 min

Bitcoin Lawyer: What the IMF Didn't Change in El Salvador's Legal Tender Law | Jose Rodriguez of Nodeman

Is Bitcoin still legal tender in El Salvador? Plenty of people say it isn't, so Mike put the question to a Salvadoran lawyer who has followed every change to the law. You've seen the IMF headlines and decided the experiment ended. What you can't see from outside is how the El Salvador economy looks to someone who was born here, practiced law through the worst years, and now builds his firm on Bitcoin. Mike sat down with Jose Rodriguez, founder of Nodeman, a Bitcoin-centric legal service provider in San Salvador. Jose became a lawyer in 2008, lost money on a taxi app before Uber arrived, got fired in 2016, went surfing at Sunzal to celebrate, and never went back to a job. Jose has compared more than 15 jurisdictions, and he'll tell you what still makes El Salvador legal tender law different from every one of them, even after the changes cut articles out of it. He and Mike don't fully agree on what El Salvador IMF pressure should have changed about the government's options, and that disagreement is the best part of the conversation. Then there's El Salvador tax. In 2021 you could pay Ministerio de Hacienda in Bitcoin through Chivo Wallet. Today there's no direct option, and Mike pushes Jose on why the government hasn't set up a third party to convert it the way it already accepts cards. Jose's answer comes down to who carries the risk, and it isn't the answer Mike wanted. For anyone weighing El Salvador business opportunities, Jose is blunt about what an El Salvador business still runs into: company formation, corporate structure, banking. Nodeman grew from one desk to a 10-person team and has kept adding people since, and he turns clients away when they don't fit. Living in El Salvador through 2012 and the years since gives Jose a longer memory than most people arguing about this country online. He calls this a renaissance, and he says it while admitting the government still runs a fiat treasury with a Bitcoin treasury off to the side. A Salvadoran lawyer who reads every Bitcoin book he can find and gives his baby son a self-custody wallet is exactly who this country needed in the room! If you're deciding whether El Salvador is still a place to build on Bitcoin, listen to this one before you make the call. Part two comes next week. —Bitcoin Beach Team Learn more about Jose Rodriguez: X: https://x.com/nodemanbtc Linked In: https://www.linkedin.com/company/nodeman Website: https://nodeman.co/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nodemanbtc/ Email: j@nodeman.co Support and follow Bitcoin Beach: X: https://www.twitter.com/BitcoinBeach IG: https://www.instagram.com/bitcoinbeach_sv TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@livefrombitcoinbeach Web: https://www.bitcoinbeach.com STAY AT BITCOIN BEACH: https://www.stayatbitcoinbeach.com/punta-mango-villas Browse through this quick guide to learn more about the episode: 00:00 Intro 00:59 Who is Jose Rodriguez, the Bitcoin lawyer in El Salvador? 05:26 What was it like starting a tech business in El Salvador before the Bitcoin Law? 10:09 Are electronic signatures and digital contracts legal in El Salvador? 13:09 How did the pandemic change the legal industry in El Salvador? 16:05 What happened in El Salvador when Bitcoin became legal tender in 2021? 19:01 How do you go from shitcoiner to Bitcoin maxi? 23:43 What is Nodeman, the Bitcoin law firm in El Salvador? 31:29 Is Bitcoin still legal tender in El Salvador after the IMF? 35:04 Can you pay taxes in Bitcoin in El Salvador? Live From Bitcoin Beach

September 19, 20261 hr 7 min

Escaping Canada for Bitcoin Country: Was the Cost of Living in El Salvador Worth It? | Charity Hagenaars of Making it in El Salvador

Would you put your kids in public schools in El Salvador, 40 to a class and no English spoken, to give them a future you couldn't see in Canada? Charity Hagenaars did. Her family of five lives on $3,000 to $3,500 a month, and if you've searched cost of living in El Salvador you've probably seen her videos on living in El Salvador. What you can't see from a video is whether rent in El Salvador comes with a stove, or whether a public school takes report cards printed in Ontario. I sat down with Charity, a retired Canadian government worker, former foster parent, and YouTuber who moved her family from Ontario to Lourdes in August 2024. Her $850 house has four bedrooms and sits in a complex with pools and soccer fields, where six families of expats living in El Salvador have built a small community. Getting there meant Marketplace listings that were photos of posters on telephone poles, and leases where leaving early costs the full year. Car shopping took a friend, a mechanic, and seven phone numbers, because the Chivo ATM caps withdrawals at $1,000 a day per number and she needed $7,000 in cash for a car she ended up passing on. Opening a bank account took a residency card and an hour in the waiting room, and then Banco Agrícola made her wait three months before YouTube could wire her a dollar. Bitcoin and Wise carried the family's money down instead. She'll also tell you what happened at Dollar City when the cashier skipped Lightning. The school story is the honest one. Her daughter got the same classmates two years running, was bullied, and stopped learning, so she's in a homeschool hub now. Her older son is out too, halfway through grade 11. Charity funded the school's parking lot and paint through her channel anyway. Then there's the spare bedroom. Two months ago Maria, the grandmother of two boys from Charity's Saturday English class, lost her home, and Charity offered the room. The boys swim every day. Her WhatsApp group grew to almost 200 members, about 30% already here, four more arriving this week. Some came to retire in El Salvador on a pension, and young families came because they couldn't see a future where they were. If you want an expat El Salvador group that screens out the salesmen, she runs one. Charity describes what it costs a foreigner to live here so nobody arrives with the wrong picture, then chose to stay and put eight people under one roof. That's what belief in this country looks like! If you're weighing moving to El Salvador with kids or a pension, listen to this one. —Bitcoin Beach Team Learn more about Charity Hagenaars: X: https://x.com/HagenaarsFamily WhatsApp: 503-7291-1480 Website: https://hagenaars.com/ Email Address: YouTube@Hagenaars.com YouTube Channel(Main): https://www.youtube.com/@HagenaarsFamily YouTube Channel(2nd): https://www.youtube.com/MakingItInElSalvador Support and follow Bitcoin Beach: X: https://www.twitter.com/BitcoinBeach IG: https://www.instagram.com/bitcoinbeach_sv TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@livefrombitcoinbeach Web: https://www.bitcoinbeach.com STAY AT BITCOIN BEACH: https://www.stayatbitcoinbeach.com/punta-mango-villas Browse through this quick guide to learn more about the episode: 00:00 Intro 02:53 Why are Bitcoiners moving to El Salvador from Canada? 07:23 Is Canada safe for Bitcoiners after frozen bank accounts and the trucker convoy? 09:10 How to rent a house in El Salvador as a foreigner 12:47 Where do expats live in El Salvador: Lourdes, the beach, or San Salvador? 15:47 How to buy a used car in El Salvador and what to check first 25:40 How do expats move money into El Salvador with Bitcoin, Chivo ATM, Wise, and banks? 35:46 How much does it cost to live in El Salvador for a family of five? 42:15 What is life like for an expat family in El Salvador? 48:15 Are public schools in El Salvador good for expat kids, or is homeschooling better? Live From Bitcoin Beach

September 12, 202649 min

El Salvador's Artificial Intelligence & Bitcoin Explained: What Bukele Made Possible for Salvadorans | Kevin Rivera of TH3 Labs

How long does Bitcoin adoption in El Salvador have to work before the press admits it worked? Kevin Rivera has been covering this country since the Bitcoin Law passed, and he'll tell you the people writing the obituaries are measuring adoption with a broken clock. He grew up in Chiltiupán, the municipality El Zonte sits under, about 15 to 20 minutes up the road from Bitcoin Beach. He was 20. He heard people down at the beach were taking some kind of digital payment, Googled it, hit the words decentralized technology, and bounced off it completely. He landed at Diario El Salvador covering the economy with zero background in economics, right as the country was about to pass the Bitcoin Law, so he picked up The Bitcoin Standard and started hunting interviews. Max Keiser is the one who took him down the rabbit hole. Kevin saw a tweet saying Max was in the country, cold messaged him, showed up, and got him explaining how Bitcoin works and the role it plays in the financial ecosystem, coming at it from a traditional finance background. Then came Cubo Plus, and this is the part most Bitcoiners outside El Salvador still sleep on. The economics track starts with money itself, how we ended up trading with gold, and how the financial system really works, and only then moves into cypherpunk philosophy and cryptography. Pierre Rochard explains the mining side and Giacomo Zucco is the main teacher, through Plan B Network, which links Cubo Plus El Salvador to students in Lugano and around the world. Kevin says around 1,000 students have come through the program. What they walk out with is the switch from asking how do I survive to asking what can I build. That switch is why he launched TH3 Labs the day we recorded. They build platforms for digital asset service providers, handle asset tokenization on Liquid and Taproot Assets for the new capital markets forming on Bitcoin, and Kevin gets into how L402 Lightning opens the network to AI agents so agentic payments can happen between them without payment server errors breaking the process. His read is that El Salvador's economy will grow through technology and innovation, especially once the small businesses that make up 90 percent of the businesses here get tools to export. Kevin also wants to bring something back to Chiltiupan, which still has poverty in some areas while the rest of the country runs ahead. That part stuck with me. He's trying to be the guy kids in his hometown can point at. If this one hits, subscribe and send it to the friend who still calls Bitcoin a Ponzi at family dinners. Then drop a comment telling us what you'd build if you had legal clarity, two solid devs, and a government that wanted you to ship. Kevin's already building, so the clock's running. —Bitcoin Beach Team Learn more about Kevin Rivera: X: https://x.com/kealrive22 X: https://x.com/th3labssv Web: https://www.th3labs.com/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@kevinrivera_token Support and follow Bitcoin Beach: X: https://www.twitter.com/BitcoinBeach IG: https://www.instagram.com/bitcoinbeach_sv TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@livefrombitcoinbeach Web: https://www.bitcoinbeach.com STAY AT BITCOIN BEACH: https://www.stayatbitcoinbeach.com/punta-mango-villas Browse through this quick guide to learn more about the episode: 00:00 Intro 02:58 What did locals think when Bitcoin Beach started in El Zonte? 07:55 How to learn Bitcoin from zero without a finance background? 10:59 What did Max Keiser teach a Salvadoran journalist about Bitcoin? 15:14 What is Cubo Plus and what do you learn in the program? 21:47 What is the Plan B Network and what do they teach in Lugano? 25:58 How Bitcoin changed the builder mindset in El Salvador 29:11 How to start an AI and Bitcoin company in El Salvador? 34:58 What is L402 and how do AI agents pay each other on Lightning? 42:58 Is Bitcoin adoption in El Salvador actually working? Live From Bitcoin Beach

September 5, 202649 min

This Bitcoin Startup in El Salvador Runs With No Bank, No KYC, and No Middleman | Jon Byrne of BitTasker

Would you sell your house, go all in on Bitcoin, and move to El Salvador without ever setting foot in the country? Jon Byrne did exactly that. I sat down with the BitTasker founder to hear how a kid from Ireland grew up around the violence of the Troubles era, then apartheid-era Johannesburg, then the Celtic Tiger collapse, and finally took one last look at the fiat world and decided sound money was worth betting everything on. Before selling it all, Jon had to orange pill his partner Roxanne. Every morning they'd sit down for "Coffee with Jon" and talk Bitcoin for an hour or two until the penny dropped. Then one day she told him to sell the house, buy Bitcoin, and go to El Salvador. His advice for couples on the stacking journey comes down to patience, because nobody should get dragged into a low time preference life they haven't chosen for themselves. Then we dig into BitTasker, a KYC-free tasking app built on the Nostr protocol that helps Salvadorans earn Bitcoin instead of just buying it. No middleman ever touches the funds, and earned trust travels with you, because your reputation lives on your keys instead of some company's server. Here's the part that earned my respect: the whole idea started when Jon met a guy in Australia who went from cleaning up dog poop on Airtasker to running a construction company. Instead of rushing to build, Jon spent a full year grinding out odd jobs on that same platform, taking the worst tasks to learn the gig economy from the inside. That's when he knew the same ladder could work even better on a Bitcoin standard, where proof of work applies to people too. If you're thinking about your own move to El Salvador, we cover the boots-on-the-ground details too, from renewing residency barefoot at the beachside immigration office in Punta Roca to the workshops BitTasker runs at the El Zonte community center right here in Bitcoin Beach. Jon's also plugging into the circular economy movement in Costa Rica, Brazil, Ireland, and beyond. If this one has you ready to sell the house and buy Bitcoin, maybe have a few coffees with your spouse first. Then subscribe, share it with a friend who's still stuck in fiat, and drop a comment: would you move to a country you'd never visited? —Bitcoin Beach Team Learn more about BitTasker: Website: https://bittasker.com X: https://x.com/bittaskerdotcom Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bittasker TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bittasker Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/BitTaskerdotcom Nostr (Primal): https://primal.net/bittasker Youtube: @BitTasker Support and follow Bitcoin Beach: X: https://www.twitter.com/BitcoinBeach IG: https://www.instagram.com/bitcoinbeach_sv TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@livefrombitcoinbeach Web: https://www.bitcoinbeach.com STAY AT BITCOIN BEACH: https://www.stayatbitcoinbeach.com/punta-mango-villas Browse through this quick guide to learn more about the episode: 00:00 Intro 01:24 How to orange pill your wife before selling everything for Bitcoin 01:56 Why people are leaving broken fiat economies for El Salvador 06:47 Why Bitcoiners left Australia after the COVID lockdowns 09:11 How to stop trading shitcoins and go all in on Bitcoin 13:37 Is it safe to move to El Salvador without visiting first? 17:23 What is BitTasker and how do you earn Bitcoin in El Salvador? 24:26 How BitTasker onboarded 1,000 Salvadorans to earn Bitcoin in 8 months 31:45 How to get residency in El Salvador as a Bitcoiner 43:45 How does non-custodial Bitcoin escrow work on Lightning? Live From Bitcoin Beach

August 29, 202644 min

These Salvadoran Brothers Are Building What Bitcoin Country Looks Like in 2030 | Diego Villeda & Mauricio Villeda of The Bitcoin Life

Would you trust two brothers with zero aviation experience to run El Salvador's helicopter tours, plane charters, and Bitcoin travel experiences? Thousands of Bitcoiners already have. Today on Live From Bitcoin Beach, I sit down with Mauricio and Diego Villeda, founders of Bitcoin Life, the Bitcoin tourism and concierge service company that convinced El Salvador's Minister of Defense to lend them Air Force helicopters. I wanted the full story of how two guys orange-pilled by a $5K Bitcoin client built the most Bitcoin-native travel operation on the planet, and they didn't hold back. It all started with a free Notion page built to help Bitcoiners travel El Salvador, covering transportation, places to stay, and spots that accept Bitcoin over the Lightning Network. Three days after launch, Stacy Herbert retweeted it, and strangers at the Adopting Bitcoin conference were showing the brothers their own guide without knowing who made it. That one retweet turned a side project into a company, and it proved something maxis have said for years, that proof of work beats marketing budgets. These days the brothers run helicopter tours to places most tourists never see, including Lake Ilopango, a lake that had zero tourism when gangs controlled the area. They fly clients beyond El Zonte, land in soccer fields, and pay the local caretakers in sats to clear the space. For Bitcoiners flying in from abroad, they also run VIP airport pickups that take you from immigration straight to a helicopter, plane charters connecting El Salvador with Próspera in Honduras for around $3,000 per group, and real estate guidance for investors front-running the nation-state adoption wave. Every booking, vendor, and ticket runs on Bitcoin, feeding the Bitcoin circular economy that fiat skeptics love to claim doesn't exist. Their biggest project is still ahead, a Bitcoin Street in the Centro Histórico of San Salvador where every business accepts Bitcoin, complete with an academy, an art gallery, and rooftop coffee shops. The brothers are raising from investors before Bitcoin Histórico this November, and I love their case for it. A district that was too dangerous to visit a few years ago deserves a permanent Bitcoin landmark, and low time preference built this country's turnaround. If you've ever wanted to see El Salvador from a military helicopter while paying in sats, these are your guys. Subscribe for more stories from the ground, share this with your favorite nocoiner, and drop a comment telling me which tour you'd book first. —Bitcoin Beach Team Learn more about The Bitcoin Life: X: https://x.com/thebitcoinlife_ X (Diego Villeda): https://x.com/DiegoVilledaa X (Mauricio Villeda): https://x.com/itsMauriVilleda Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thebitcoinlife_ Website: https://www.bitcoinlife.sv/ WhatsApp: +503-6865-6540 Support and follow Bitcoin Beach: X: https://www.twitter.com/BitcoinBeach IG: https://www.instagram.com/bitcoinbeach_sv TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@livefrombitcoinbeach Web: https://www.bitcoinbeach.com STAY AT BITCOIN BEACH: https://www.stayatbitcoinbeach.com/punta-mango-villas Browse through this quick guide to learn more about the episode: 00:00 Intro 01:36 How to get started with Bitcoin as an entrepreneur in El Salvador? 04:36 What was the first Bitcoin meetup in San Salvador like? 07:48 How to build a Bitcoin travel guide that goes viral? 11:42 How to book a helicopter tour in El Salvador with Bitcoin? 14:20 Is Lake Ilopango safe to visit now? 19:27 How does VIP airport pickup work in El Salvador? 21:31 How much does a private flight from El Salvador to Próspera cost? 23:24 What is Bitcoin Street in San Salvador? 29:51 Where can you spend Bitcoin in El Salvador? Live From Bitcoin Beach

August 22, 202641 min

Is Bitcoin Adoption in El Salvador a Myth? A Local Entrepreneur Gives His Honest Answer | Pierre Valiente of Bitcoin Casa

How does one ride with the wrong passenger turn an ordinary driver into a Bitcoin entrepreneur in El Salvador? I sat down with Pierre Valiente to find out, and his car rentals, airport transfers, and 14-room Bitcoin Casa guest house in San Salvador all accept Bitcoin, which makes life awkward for every critic who keeps telling me locals don't use it. The passenger was Sandy Wade, headed to the Adopting Bitcoin conference back in 2023. She tried to pay him with a $20 bill he couldn't break, he told her to keep it, and she invited him to the conference instead. Two days later he walked out understanding self custody, cold wallets, and why holding your own keys beats trusting a bank. The backstory alone is worth the listen. Pierre was born in Santa Ana, spent 22 years in Los Angeles, and taught English to special forces at a military camp in Dubai for four years before coming home to open his school near Metrocentro. That entrepreneurial streak is exactly what Bitcoin rewarded once he found it. His transportation business started with a single car after he noticed Bitcoiners landing at the airport with no good way to get around. Today the fleet runs from a Jeep Compass at $45 a day up to a brand new 4x4 at $60 to $65, insurance included, no hidden fees, every rental payable in Bitcoin. Anyone spending less than six months a year in the country should hear our rent-versus-buy conversation before letting a car rot through a wet season, and I speak from moldy experience. Bitcoin Casa is the hospitality side of the equation, a 14-room guest house seven minutes from the historic center that he built with his German partner for Bitcoiners who arrive with two suitcases and a plan. Short-term rentals run $35 a night, monthly stays run $500, and the rooms come with standing desks, Starlink, and a Bitcoin ATM in the lobby for anyone who wants to stack on arrival. He's already scouting Antiguo Cuscatlán and San Benito for location number two. Pierre's take on the adoption question might be the most honest one I've heard from a Salvadoran entrepreneur. Older folks sold their Chivo wallet bitcoin for fiat because nobody taught them what they were holding, and the younger generation grew up watching that mistake, so they want control of their own money. He calls himself part of the first wave, and he's hiring locals so the opportunity stays in the country. If this episode makes you want to land here with two suitcases of your own, subscribe, share it with the friend who still calls it magic internet money, and tell us in the comments: would you take the ride or keep the $20? —Bitcoin Beach Team Learn more about Pierre Valiente: WhatsApp: +503 7557 7261 Web: https://www.bitcoincasasv.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/bitcoincasasv TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@bitcoin.casa Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61584549045182 Support and follow Bitcoin Beach: X: https://www.twitter.com/BitcoinBeach IG: https://www.instagram.com/bitcoinbeach_sv TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@livefrombitcoinbeach Web: https://www.bitcoinbeach.com STAY AT BITCOIN BEACH: https://www.stayatbitcoinbeach.com/punta-mango-villas Browse through this quick guide to learn more about the episode: 00:00 Intro 01:42 Who is Pierre Valiente from Bitcoin Casa El Salvador? 02:45 What is it like growing up between El Salvador and Los Angeles? 08:42 How do you start an English school in El Salvador? 09:24 How do people in El Salvador get into Bitcoin? 12:28 Do Salvadorans actually use Bitcoin? 17:22 How much does it cost to rent a car in El Salvador? 20:36 Should you rent or buy a car in El Salvador? 28:02 Where do Bitcoiners stay in San Salvador? 35:04 How do you book a Bitcoin friendly Airbnb in El Salvador? Live From Bitcoin Beach

August 15, 202651 min

STOP Moving to El Salvador for the Wrong Reasons: A Relocation Expert's Honest Warning | Jeni Ari of Livin Like a Local

Why do most expats moving to El Salvador pack up and fly home within three years, even after selling everything for their relocation dream of living abroad in Bitcoin country? Jeni Ari ( @jeniarilagringasalvadorena ) has watched it happen over and over, and she says the ones who make it have something the others don't. I've got Jeni back in the studio, and she's the founder of Living Like a Local, one of the first immigration support and relocation companies in El Salvador. Oh, and she became a Salvadoran citizen the day before we recorded this. Jeni's own path started with world schooling her kids through Central America after her divorce, and she landed here before the Bitcoin Law even passed. Like most gringos, she figured Costa Rica was the place, until corruption, an impounded camper van, and four frustrating months sent her back to the one country that felt different. Then the Régimen de Excepción turned El Salvador into one of the safest countries in the world, her YouTube channel blew up overnight, and her subscribers became her first relocation clients. We get into how a lot of early Bitcoiners got themselves into trouble moving overseas, jumping in without due diligence and signing rental contracts they couldn't read in a legal system that works nothing like the one back home. Jeni explains why you can't sue your way out of a bad lease in El Salvador, why the cheapest lawyer ends up costing you more, and why the gringo tax exists but the folks who feel scammed usually just misread the culture. If you've got kids, you'll want to hear why El Salvador schooling comes before house hunting, and why she thinks educational sovereignty is the next wave coming after the Bitcoiners and the Canadians. Her investigation tour even sets off fireworks outside your hotel at midnight on purpose, because you'd better find out now if this country is for you. What I love most is Jeni's heart for community integration. She's watched the expat community wear out its welcome in Panama and Mexico by living in bubbles instead of becoming part of the neighborhood, and she's determined to keep that from happening here. Her service club, Darlo Mejor para El Salvador, connects expat mentors with Salvadoran youth, including an 87 year old Canadian engineer who answered Pres. @nayibbukele 's call and now speaks to university students about futures they never imagined possible. If this episode made you want to pack your bags, or at least dodge a few lane splitting motorcycles, subscribe to the channel, share it with that friend who won't stop posting about leaving Canada, and tell us in the comments whether you'd survive fireworks outside your window at midnight. —Bitcoin Beach Team Learn more about Jeni Ari: Website: https://www.livinlikealocal.com Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jeniarilagringasalvadorena Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/_jeni_ari_/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@_jeni_ari_ FB: facebook.com/LivinLikeALocalSV Support and follow Bitcoin Beach: X: https://www.twitter.com/BitcoinBeach IG: https://www.instagram.com/bitcoinbeach_sv TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@livefrombitcoinbeach Web: https://www.bitcoinbeach.com STAY AT BITCOIN BEACH: https://www.stayatbitcoinbeach.com/punta-mango-villas Browse through this quick guide to learn more about the episode: 00:00 Intro 02:33 What is it like moving to El Salvador as a single mom with kids? 04:58 Why are expats leaving Costa Rica for El Salvador? 08:43 What does a relocation company in El Salvador actually do? 13:56 What legal mistakes do foreigners make when moving to El Salvador? 16:57 Should you visit El Salvador before moving there? 22:15 Why do most expats move back home after two or three years? 24:37 What are the best school options in El Salvador for expat families? 28:43 Why are Canadians moving to El Salvador? 35:21 How can expats give back and integrate into El Salvador? 44:57 Is the gringo tax real or are expats just misreading the culture? 46:50 How do you get Salvadoran citizenship as a foreigner? Live From Bitcoin Beach

August 8, 202641 min

El Salvador's Bitcoin Dream vs. Reality: What Entrepreneurs Actually Find When They Arrive | Michael Ruiz & Luis Esparragoza of Build in El Salvador

Would you sell everything and move to El Salvador, or is that just a Bitcoin fantasy? The founders of Build in El Salvador (@BuildInES) reveal why Bitcoin expats thrive or quit. In this episode, Mike Peterson sits down with Michael Ruiz and Luis Esparragoza, whose community helps startup founders and Bitcoiners relocate, connect, and build businesses in one of the most talked-about emerging markets in the world. Plenty of Bitcoiners arrive full of excitement, and some pack up and leave within months. This conversation digs into why, and what separates the ones who stay. The episode opens with a story most people only saw from the outside. Michael's former business partner at Sovereignty Studios gave up everything to move to El Salvador, hit a wall, and left with a viral rant so heated that President @nayibbukele himself responded. Michael shares what really happened behind that public exit, why he calls it a genuine loss of talent for the country, and how watching a friend rage quit shaped everything he built afterward. That "everything" became Build in El Salvador, which started as a humble Substack where Michael and Luis interviewed local entrepreneurs, including one who changed his name to Papusa, bought a million dollar passport, and now farms avocados in Santa Ana. The writing grew into a community of over 100 entrepreneurs connected through masterminds, roundtables, and a WhatsApp group, a business networking layer for the whole expat scene. When one member sliced his eye with a saw, the local community had a trusted doctor recommendation in his hands within a minute. That kind of support is what keeps talent in the country when things get hard. Michael and Luis are also brutally honest about who should stay home. El Salvador has huge first mover advantages, and it also has rough edges, language barriers, and antiquated systems that will break you if you arrive expecting Dubai. Thriving there takes a specific entrepreneur mindset: a low time preference, a willingness to build through discomfort, and the humility to ask a community for help. If your plan is margaritas on the beach while the opportunity finds you, this episode will probably talk you out of the move, and that might be the most valuable thing it does. The conversation closes with two developments worth knowing about. El Salvador residency rules changed in 2026, and temporary residents now need only 90 days per year in the country instead of nine months, a huge shift for podcasters, founders, and anyone who travels for work. And the guests recap the SovAI Summit, where about 25 Build in El Salvador members attended and Michael interviewed speakers at the National Palace as the country positions itself as a first mover in sovereign AI. If this episode helped you, subscribe, share it with a friend who keeps threatening to move, and tell us in the comments: would you get on the one-way ticket? —Bitcoin Beach Team Learn more about Build in El Salvador: Website: https://buildinelsalvador.com Twitter/X: https://x.com/BuildInES YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Buildinelsalvador Substack: https://buildinelsalvador.substack.com Skool community (free): https://www.skool.com/build-in-el-salvador-2170/about Support and follow Bitcoin Beach: X: https://www.twitter.com/BitcoinBeach IG: https://www.instagram.com/bitcoinbeach_sv TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@livefrombitcoinbeach Web: https://www.bitcoinbeach.com STAY AT BITCOIN BEACH: https://www.stayatbitcoinbeach.com/punta-mango-villas Browse through this quick guide to learn more about the episode: 00:00 Intro 01:21 What happened to Sovereignty Studios in El Salvador? 03:38 Why do Bitcoiners leave El Salvador and did Bukele really respond to that viral rant? 08:01 Should I move to El Salvador or is it overhyped? 09:20 What is Build in El Salvador and how do I join the community? 14:00 What is it like moving to El Salvador as a Latin American Bitcoiner? 17:16 How do Bitcoin entrepreneurs find their tribe in El Salvador? 22:19 How does the expat community in El Salvador help when things go wrong? 27:07 What changed about El Salvador residency rules in 2026? 33:53 What happened at the SovAI Summit at the National Palace? Live From Bitcoin Beach