Bitcoin payments appear to be losing traction in El Zonte, the Salvadoran beach town long known as “Bitcoin Beach.” Bitcoin Core developer Jon Atack, who has lived in El Salvador since 2022, said a restaurant where he recently paid in Bitcoin told him his transaction was the first BTC payment it had received all month in August. He added that staff said most customers now pay by credit card, and one worker declined a tip in satoshis after saying they had forgotten how to use the Bitcoin app. The account reflects a single merchant and does not by itself describe all of El Zonte or the country as a whole. Still, it lines up with broader survey data. A study by the Central American University (UCA) public opinion institute found that only 8.1% of Salvadorans used Bitcoin in 2024 to buy goods or pay for services, down from 25.7% in 2021, 21% in 2022, and 12% in 2023. A separate survey by Francisco Gavidia University found about 92% of respondents did not use Bitcoin for transactions in 2024. The shift comes after El Salvador revised its Bitcoin Law in 2025 as part of a $1.4 billion, 40-month financing program with the International Monetary Fund, making Bitcoin acceptance voluntary for private businesses while requiring taxes to be paid in U.S. dollars.

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’s BIP editors removed Luke Dashjr from the role on Monday, two days after the BIP-110 soft fork he backed split thousands of nodes onto a chain that has not produced a block since Aug. 8. The move was carried out by revoking his GitHub permissions and deleting his name and email from BIP 3, even though the BIPs repository has no written process for appointing or dismissing editors. Bryan Bishop confirmed the change on the Bitcoin Development Mailing List, while Jon Atack merged pull request #2248 to strike Dashjr from the list of editors. Erhardt, also known as Murch, had opened the motion a day earlier, citing four reasons: conflict of interest, minimal contribution, support for a contentious fork, and a collapse in coordination with the rest of the editors. Dashjr rejected the accusations, calling them false and saying he had followed the BIP process consistently for years. The discussion drew backing from BIP editor Olaoluwa Osuntokun, Bitcoin Core contributors Matt Corallo, Antoine Poinsot, and Anthony Towns, libsecp256k1 maintainer Jonas Nick, and Casa co-founder Jameson Lopp. Some participants supported the outcome while criticizing the speed and the lack of formal governance rules. Meanwhile, the BIP-110 enforcing chain remained stuck at height 961,633, signaling dropped to zero in the current difficulty period, and Bitcoin’s market price showed little reaction.

Jon Atack, a long-time Bitcoin Core contributor and BIP maintainer, has issued a warning advising users to avoid Bitcoin transfers during the second week of August due to the risk of a potential chain reorganization. He will run both Core and Knots 110 versions to monitor the situation and will isolate his own BTC holdings. Atack also commented on the growing polarization within the Bitcoin community, emphasizing the need for independent thinking and rational decision-making.

Jon Atack, a long-time Bitcoin Core contributor and BIP maintainer, has issued a risk warning advising users to suspend Bitcoin transactions during the second week of August until the potential chain reorganization risk subsides. He stated that he will run both Core and Knots v110 to monitor the network and isolate his BTC holdings. Additionally, Atack commented on the growing polarization in the Bitcoin community, emphasizing the need for independent thinking and prioritizing one's own direction as a better approach to complex issues. The warning has drawn market attention to short-term network security.