Jonathan Martin

Jonathan Martin

Latest from Jonathan Martin


Opinion

Westerners See El Salvador as a Template for a New Monetary System

While Bitcoin adoption has been slow since the Central American country made BTC legal tender, expats see the outlines of a whole new financial order, says Jonathan Martin.

A scene celebrating the second year anniversary of El Salvador's Bitcoin law, 2023 (Jonathan Martin/CoinDesk).

Opinion

Building Trust in the Bitcoin Network in El Salvador

Jonathan Martin reports from El Salvador on programs to build literacy in Bitcoin. This is his fourth dispatch from the first nation to adopt the cryptocurrency as legal tender.

SAN SALVADOR, EL SALVADOR - NOVEMBER 22: A shoe shiner works outside a shop that accepts Bitcoin for payment on November 22, 2021 in San Salvador, El Salvador. Merchants in El Salvador slowly adopt Bitcoin as a means for payments after more than 2 months of the cryptocurrency being approved as legal tender by the Legislative Assembly (Photo by Camilo Freedman/APHOTOGRAFIA/Getty Images)

Opinion

The Bitcoin Circular Economy Battles Entrenched Mindsets in El Salvador

In his third weekly dispatch from El Salvador, Jonathan Martin meets two Bitcoin entrepreneurs working to improve financial inclusion.

(Fabien Bazanegue/Unsplash, modified by CoinDesk)

Opinion

El Salvador Diary: Lightning Is Key to Bitcoin Adoption

As he travels around the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, Jonathan Martin finds that few are using it. But Lightning integration could soon change the game.

Jonathan Martin speaking with Edgar Borja.

Opinion

2 Months in El Salvador: The Ground Game for Bitcoin Adoption

A graduate student on leave from the Wharton School checks in on the first country to adopt bitcoin as legal tender. Are locals buying it?

A bitcoin ATM in El Salvador, 2023.

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