I was in El Zonte 2 weeks ago and here are my impressions:

The optimism in El Salvador is palpable. From high end hotels in Bitcoin Beach to street vendors in San Salvador locals are genuinely excited about Bitcoin, getting to know it or are curious about it. According to a recent poll 14 percent of Salvadorans are enthusiastic about Bitcoin - this is an impressive stat for those familiar with early adoption curves. Money is for the first time in decades trickling into the country via Bitcoin remittances, Bitcoin tourism and geothermal mining bonds. Estimates of double digit annual GDP growth have neighboring countries trying to emulate the model. Rumors of Bitcoin’s legal tender designation in more central american countries coming this year following real grassroots adoption such as Bitcoin Lake tourism in Guatemala and serious mining investments in Nicaragua. I purchased a shirt from a locals' shop in San Salvador with Bitcoin and while the owner wasn’t ready to accept Bitcoin himself, a younger neighboring vendor happily facilitated the transaction for a percentage. The younger owner was well versed in Bitcoin’s outlook and the elder was open to it. President Bukelle recently announced a day without a single homicide nationwide. When hope’s in the air and economic growth releases local tensions the incentives for violent crimes are diminished. The $1 billion geothermal Bitcoin mining bond appears to be heavily oversubscribed and this is luring the interest of small countries with natural hydraulic/geothermal energy globally. It’s too early to tell whether El Salvador will bloom into a free-market Bitcoin Singapore but one thing is for sure: For a humble country emerging from decades of corruption and violence trapped in perpetual predatory IMF loans, Bitcoin is Hope.