Bitcoin Core contributor Jon Atack, who has lived in El Salvador since 2022, says everyday BTC payments in El Zonte, widely known as Bitcoin Beach, have dropped sharply. In a recent account cited by BlockBeats on Aug. 26, Atack said a lunch purchase he made with bitcoin was the first BTC payment the restaurant had received all month. He added that when he tried to leave a tip in sats, a staff member who had worked there for three years said they had forgotten how to use the bitcoin app and described the local payment scene as “dead.”
The report also noted that some travelers still say they have successfully paid with BTC in the same area, and signs showing bitcoin acceptance can still be found around town. Even so, routine use appears to have contracted. El Zonte was one of the earliest symbols of El Salvador’s bitcoin push after an anonymous donor began distributing bitcoin in the town in 2019. The country later made BTC legal tender in 2021. According to the report, bitcoin payment activity kept cooling after a 2024 IMF loan agreement under which merchant acceptance became voluntary.
Bitcoin Core contributor Jon Atack says everyday BTC spending in El Zonte, known as Bitcoin Beach, has fallen to the point of near-disuse.
According to a BlockBeats report published on Aug. 26, Atack, who has lived in El Salvador since 2022, recently described a lunch purchase he made with bitcoin in El Zonte. A shop employee told him it was the restaurant’s first bitcoin payment of the month.
Atack said BTC transactions in the area have gone from being common to barely happening. When he tried to leave a tip in sats, a staff member who had worked there for three years said they had forgotten how to use the bitcoin app and described the local payments scene as “dead.”
Some BTC payments still happen, but routine usage has shrunk
The report said some travelers have still managed to pay with BTC in the same area, and signs showing that merchants accept bitcoin remain scattered around town. Even so, the pattern of day-to-day payments appears to have weakened clearly.
Bitcoin Beach was once central to El Salvador’s story
El Zonte was an early focal point in El Salvador’s bitcoin story. In 2019, an anonymous donor began distributing bitcoin in the town. In 2021, El Salvador formally made BTC legal tender.
BlockBeats said that under a 2024 International Monetary Fund, or IMF, loan agreement, merchant acceptance of bitcoin in El Salvador became voluntary, and on-chain payments have continued to cool since then. While Atack remains optimistic about El Salvador’s position at the front edge of bitcoin legislation and adoption, the payment momentum at Bitcoin Beach has, in practical terms, receded.
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