From El Zonte to Victoria Falls: How Bitcoin is Changing Lives Around the World | Adam Cowperthwait

Live from Bitcoin Beach in El Zonte, El Salvador, in this episode, I sit down with Adam Cowperthwait, a passionate Bitcoiner who's on a mission to spread Bitcoin adoption in unique and underserved communities. Adam shares the story of how his visit to El Zonte in 2022 inspired him to create Bitcoin Victoria Falls in Zambia and launch a new project in Montserrat, a small island in the Caribbean.

We dive into the challenges and successes of building circular Bitcoin economies, from teaching locals about Bitcoin to onboarding merchants and even tackling big issues like energy shortages. Adam talks about the power of combining grassroots education with tourism to bring Bitcoin into these communities sustainably.

He also gives us a glimpse into his plans for the future, including scaling the Victoria Falls project and launching the Montserrat initiative, where he sees huge potential for a Bitcoin revival thanks to the island’s geothermal energy and small, tight-knit population.

If you’re curious about how Bitcoin can transform communities and want to hear about some exciting real-world adoption stories, this episode is for you. Don’t miss it!

- Mike

Support and follow Bitcoin Beach:

https://twitter.com/Bitcoinbeach

https://www.instagram.com/bitcoinbeach_sv/

https://www.tiktok.com/@livefrombitcoinbeach

Web: https://www.bitcoinbeach.com/

Follow and connect with Adam, Bitcoin Victoria Falls, and Bitcoin Montserrat:

X: https://x.com/Cowpertweets

X: https://x.com/BitcoinVicFalls

X: https://x.com/btcmontserrat

Browse through this quick guide to learn more about the episode:

0:00 - Introduction

0:42 - What inspired Adam Cowperthwait to visit El Salvador and explore Bitcoin?

1:36 - How did early experiences in El Salvador shape Bitcoin Victoria Falls?

2:07 - Who is Adam Cowperthwait, and how did he get started with Bitcoin?

5:23 - What is Bitcoin Victoria Falls, and how did it start?

6:30 - Why was Zambia’s Victoria Falls chosen for a Bitcoin circular economy project?

7:32 - What challenges do NGOs face when integrating Bitcoin?

10:05 - How can tourism and local economies work together to grow Bitcoin adoption?

11:06 - What progress has Bitcoin Victoria Falls made in its first year?

12:35 - How does Mi Primer Bitcoin educate communities about Bitcoin?

13:29 - Why are locals in Zambia interested in learning about Bitcoin?

15:00 - How many businesses in Victoria Falls are accepting Bitcoin?

16:49 - How is Bitcoin being used for payments in Zambia’s Victoria Falls?

18:09 - What is Bitcoin Montserrat, and how can Bitcoin help this Caribbean island?

20:52 - What makes Montserrat’s geothermal energy and history perfect for Bitcoin revival

22:47 - How does Bitcoin Victoria Falls plan to focus on specific areas for growth?

26:15 - What’s next for Bitcoin Victoria Falls and Montserrat projects?

Live From Bitcoin Beach

Transcript

Adam Cowperthwait  
We're trying to find other ways to to get bitcoin spread a little bit more further and disperse a little wider. We gave out some stats, you know, for people that were attending the that came to and graduated from the course, and we were trying to find other creative ways to make sure that we get that, get it out there and then and get that moving from the merchant adoptions.

Mike Peterson  
Adam, it's your first time in El Salvador, right? 

Adam Cowperthwait  
Second

Mike Peterson  
Second, okay.

Adam Cowperthwait  
The first time down here inspired everything I've been doing for the past two years.

Mike Peterson  
Okay, yeah, okay. For some reason I was thinking your first time. So did we meet the first time you came down here? Did I only talk to you on I think we talked on Twitter spaces when we were talking about your project. But did we meet other person before?

Adam Cowperthwait  
We did not. I met Jim Barrow last time. Okay, so I went out to lunch with him, and then went over to his him and Lexi's house for dinner. He cooked us a great steak dinner, me and my wife, and just kind of explored the area with him. And that inspired Bitcoin Victoria Falls. So that was Yeah, so I did not meet you last time, but I did spend some time with her mom.

Mike Peterson  
Okay, yeah, and you guys were one of the circular BicoinI Economy projects that that was got one of the grant distributions in the last round of grants that we did, and so I think that's what we did, a Twitter spaces talking about that. But would love for you to share with the audience, kind of a little bit of your backstory, who you are, how you got into Bitcoin, and then where, where the Victoria Falls project like came out of that. And then we'll talk a little bit more about the details of what's happening there and what you're excited about. 

Adam Cowperthwait  
Yeah, so I guess it all starts from my love for international travel and culture. My mom Hosted Exchange students when I was younger, and so we always had people from different countries in our house for a year, and just really was passionate about that as I grew older, of just going and exploring and learning and understanding people that are different from me and grew up different from me, and so that's kind of really the evolution of it. I got into bitcoin from kind of the Austrian School of Economics, and studying listening to people like Tom woods and people like Ron Paul and and that kind of led to me studying Bitcoin from like 2016 to 2022 where, for those six years, I was more or less just kind of researching, studying, listening, observing. And then the 2022 I decided to come down to El Salvador to see what was happening after the legal tender laws, and after seeing what you guys were doing with Bitcoin beach. So yeah. So that's kind of the kind of time period from, you know, being a young kid and having exposure to, you know, other cultures and other people, and then leading into, kind of studying Bitcoin in that lens, and kind of thinking about it on a global scale.

Mike Peterson  
So you saw what was happening in El Salvador, specifically in El zonte, or Bitcoin beach. Lot of people referred to it, and then was the idea, like, hey, I want to go replicate this somewhere. And where did Victoria Falls fall into that? How did that all come together? 

Adam Cowperthwait  
Yeah, it's a good question, because I actually came down here just to observe, like, I again, I like going into a local community and just observing, learning, seeing what's going on. And that's kind of how me and my wife approach travel. It's how my mom approached travel when we were when we were kids, and going internationally was and it was made more possible with things like Airbnb as things went on, where you can stay in a local community or stay in a local town, and not necessarily, you know, be in the tourism district. So same thing here. My wife and I came down, we brought our dog, and we stayed in zonete for a week and a half, and then we went to Santa Ana for a week and a half, booked an Airbnb and hiked the volcano, but it was really just an opportunity to to observe. And the idea for the Bitcoin circular economy actually came while I was in Alante. And when I was meeting winchember, and when I was observing what was going on, I was like-

Mike Peterson  
Hey guys, just a brief interruption. We'll get back to the exciting show here. But I just want to really ask a favor that you guys could make sure that you're subscribed if you're watching this on YouTube, if you are listening to this on a podcast, please take the take a second and review this. You know, you don't even have to write a lengthy review or anything at all, just click the number of stars that you want to give us. It really helps us in the algorithms to make sure people are finding out about what's happening here. All right, back to the show. 

Adam Cowperthwait  
I have a lot of international connections. I can go and do this somewhere and help to see one of these and operationalize it, and it just. Inspired, kind of, I've got a pretty secure Fiat job. My mom, you know, works in, is the CEO and founder of a nursing education company. And so my bitcoin journey was wanting to be was, was a desire to give back philanthropically. And so that's kind of where everything came from. And and launched out of that trip in 2022 

Mike Peterson  
And why Victoria Falls and specifically on the Zambia side?

Adam Cowperthwait  
Yeah, that's another good question. So I've been donating to an NGO called free Haven community initiative since 2016 the founder and executive director, Samantha knew my sister from a church, church organization in the in the Maryland, Delaware area. And so I'd been donating and sponsoring a child in that organization since since 2016 and following closely the work that they were doing in Zambia. And it's a great organization, very well run and and so when my mind went to, where do I, you know, feel like I can make an impact. I thought about their work, and I thought about that NGO in Zambia, and so I started meeting with them and kind of talking about the ideas and and getting a little bit more into, kind of, what, you know, what do you guys think about Bitcoin? What? And they were, they were very encouraged by the fact that I wanted to do some work in the local area. But they were more I originally thought it would be integrated with the NGO from the get go, and they kind of wanted me to build it parallel, and then see where the integration comes after the fact.

Mike Peterson  
And was that, did they have just like concerns that, you know, that there's reputational risk because there's been scams with Bitcoin or or it was just too complex for them, or what was, why do you think that they wanted less

Adam Cowperthwait  
Scams and more just reputation, risk of the unknown? You know, I just joined the board of that organization, actually, and really excited about that. I just joined the board, and I'm the treasurer there as well now. So, you know, it's still early days, and I'm not looking to come in and push anything. I'm looking to come in and observe, just like I did in Asante, and see where we can help the organization overall by considering stuff like, you know, Bitcoin. So I think just they wanted some time to process learn like everybody does, right? And they're going through that process themselves. And some of the staff at the at the NGO have taken the me premiere Bitcoin course that we offered, and so there's been an openness to learning, but not ready to jump off the deep end right, right at the initial onset. And I think that's fair.

Mike Peterson  
Okay, so in parallel, you've set up some other things in that same community, exactly, probably with crossover with similar people that are being served by the other organization. So tell us a little bit about that, and what's what you guys have going on there? 

Adam Cowperthwait  
Yeah, so I set out to just build a project and see what happens. And so I connected with Anita posh from Bitcoin for fairness, and then I she connected me with their Lusaka branch and Deza, and he was able to help me find a teacher that was a Zambian and that ended up being my co founder, Humphrey. And so basically, Humphrey, I visited Zambia last year before the project kicked off this year in April. And Humphrey has been absolutely amazing and absolutely crucial. He's my right hand man. He's the boots on the ground. He is the teacher and the community leader. 

Mike Peterson  
And is he originally from that community, or was he from the capital city and was commuting in, or I'm trying to remember. 

Adam Cowperthwait  
Yeah, he's he's from the capital city. So he's from Lusaka, where the Bitcoin for fairness Zambia team was doing a lot of work, and he was integrated with that community in Lusaka. And so he was originally, for the past eight months, he was traveling part time to Livingston to run the course and and get the get the project off the ground, and then he would go back to Lusaka for a period of time. He has just moved full time to Livingston, so we're really excited about that, and kind of just see what that means for him, being there full time 

Mike Peterson  
and and Livingston is, is the town that is right at Victoria Falls?

Adam Cowperthwait  
Yes, correct. So there's Victoria Falls is Victoria Falls is the Falls itself. Mostly a Tonya is the and I'm probably butchering that, but that is the name, the the original name for the falls. It means, I think, falls of thunder, or something along those lines. And then Victoria Falls is the Zimbabwe, the town in Zimbabwe across the on the other side of the falls. So the falls and the Zambezi River create the border between Zambia and Zimbabwe. And then Livingston is the Zambia side of the falls and the town on that side.

Mike Peterson  
And how big of a town is it? 

Adam Cowperthwait  
Livingston's 170,000 people

Mike Peterson  
Decent sized city.

Adam Cowperthwait  
Decent sized city, pretty sprawling. Lots of fun things to do. I've been telling Bitcoiners you got to come visit whitewater rafting, zip lining, safaris, national parks. Just. I mean, it's gorgeous. It's a great area of the world to visit and explore.

Mike Peterson  
So do you guys see kind of replicating, like the Bitcoin beach focus on tourism there as part of the project? Is that kind of one of the things, the goals? 

Adam Cowperthwait  
Yeah, we're trying to strike that balance right, because I've been talking with Herman a lot from Bitcoin, akazi and, you know, and striking that balance of the local Circular Economy versus the tourism angle, I think there is very much a tourism angle to be had, but that that transpires over time, right? Expats, tourists coming in. And so we don't want to, we don't want to put all our eggs in that basket, but we want to make sure that we're supportive of that. If that, if we have Bitcoin, you're supposed

Mike Peterson  
the benefit of that is, is that becomes an injection of Bitcoin into the community in a way that the people can earn. And that's the healthiest way that the Bitcoin comes in, is people earning Bitcoin. So absolutely, but, but, you know, it's you don't want it to be the only focus, because obviously it is the local community that that really, ultimately you're trying to grow and so figuring out a way that's going to meet their needs the best.

Adam Cowperthwait  
Yeah, absolutely. And so that's the balance we're trying to strike, right? I mean, we're eight months into the project. We've had a really good start with me premier Bitcoin and teaching that curriculum. We've graduated about 75 students. Where meetups are very well attended. We have meetups in the 40 to 50 people attending our meetups and learning so we're getting the grassroots effort and the local support, and then I think you augment that with tourists visiting the area that want to spend Bitcoin, and it's a recipe for success. So I think over the long haul, we'll kind of see exactly how that plays out, but both angles are really kind of going to be supportive for us. 

Mike Peterson  
And it's a fairly new project, correct? It's how long have you guys been up and running? 

Adam Cowperthwait  
Yeah, so I visited, I visited El Zonte in November 2022, so exactly two years ago I was down here. I spent a year working with the free Haven team, kind of just talking about my ideas and what the plans were, spent three months visiting the air. Well, that wasn't there for three months, but three months kind of getting the teacher, getting Humphrey, and setting that all up, and then about about eight months, eight to nine months, kind of since the project's officially been launched, and since we've been teaching and going forward with it. 

Mike Peterson  
And so one of the first things that the project was launching, let me premiere Bitcoin curriculum and doing classes. And how often do those happen? And what's kind of the rhythm of life there for you guys on the ground?

Adam Cowperthwait  
Yeah, so we sure in their 10 week course to a five week course. So that Humphrey, when he was traveling in from Lusaka, had some time to he stayed for five weeks Most times we were running the course. And we put two sessions, two chapters per week, so he would come in for five

Mike Peterson  
and really shorten the coursework. You just condensed it. 

Adam Cowperthwait  
Condensed it. Okay, yeah. And so we ran four instances of it this year, we just completed our last one, and it was the the largest guy graduating class yet. And then while he was in town for that five weeks, we would run a meetup. So it was basically monthly. We he would go back to Lusaka for a couple weeks, and then he would come back. So we did four instances of that, from April to now, and then we're hoping to run six to eight courses next year, upping that with him being now local in the area, and we're going to do 12 meetups. So that's kind of the cadence. 

Mike Peterson  
And what's, what's the motivation for the the locals to take the course? What is, what is kind of the driving reason behind them being willing to, you know, set aside that amount of time to learn about Bitcoin?

Adam Cowperthwait  
Yeah, I mean, the kwacha is, is the currency there, and it's, it's constantly losing purchasing power. It's not quite as bad as their neighbors in Zimbabwe, but they also see what's happening in Zimbabwe. And so, you know, it's, it's a challenging environment for them to constantly lose that purchasing power. And so they're very interested in in retaining that and, you know, seeing kind of where that goes. There's also a lot of challenges on the ground right now with the energy grid. There is, they are going through about 12 to 16 hours of blackouts day right now. I was just talking with, with Eric from gridless, because he met with the head of Tesco energy, which is the Zambian state owned energy company, recently, and he was telling me that the challenge was based off of their their over building of hydro, and then going through a drought and none and on rainy season. So the two primary challenges that I see right now are the energy and how how sparse that is at the moment for them, which is almost taking precedent to some of the financial challenges, but, but then you also have the kwacha and the loss of purchasing power through the kwacha. 

Mike Peterson  
Yeah. Okay, and do you guys have any businesses on boarded there yet? 

Adam Cowperthwait  
Yeah, we have about four to five. So still, still early. I really see I was, again, I was talking with Herman about this, about where do we go for 2025 right where we're Humphrey and I are really kind of planning for 2025 right now, right with him just moving there, we're trying to kind of, he's going to the Africa, Africa Bitcoin Conference, to adopting Bitcoin Cape Town. We might try to get him out here for a period of time in January, and then it's going to be February. Let's hey, let's get back into the curriculum and really pushing forward with our 2025, initiatives right now. We have about four to five merchants onboarded. We have one that is a tourism agency, and so he runs a lot of tours in the area, whether that's the white water rafting, the safaris, all that kind of stuff is, is you can pay in Bitcoin for that. We have a gentleman who graduated from our first class named Caswell, and he is, he runs a taxi company, and so he's accepting bitcoin for his taxi services. He has three taxis. Jolly boys is a hostel in the area. It is owned by a Canadian gentleman named John, and it's where we host our meetups. And they've onboarded the restaurant within jolly boys to accept Bitcoin, and then they also accept it for accommodations. And trying to think, oh, and then David molinta, he does all of our printing, our T shirts. Are he printed our workbooks. So he ends up printing shop in the area and accepts Bitcoin as well. So those are the four that are coming to mind off the top of my head. 

Mike Peterson  
And are there any people, anybody in the community, that's being paid in Bitcoin, or is there any way bitcoins being injected in I know that's always the challenge is to get that momentum started and get bitcoin circulated in the community. 

Adam Cowperthwait  
Yeah. So one of the things I've been very forthright about is that all of our expenses for the first year of the of the project were paid in or 95 of them, 95% of them were paid in Bitcoin. The only one that was not was our classroom, and Humphrey managed to get the teacher on boarded, and now he they're interested in accepting bitcoin. So everything's been paid out in Bitcoin. Humphrey is, is the only employee that we have right now within, within the work that we're doing. But that's kind of what I was also, kind of picking her mom's brain about a little bit was, you know, because of the NGO, we didn't integrate with them right away. We're trying to find other ways to get bitcoin spread a little bit more further and disperse a little wider. We gave out some stats, you know, for people that were attending the that came to and graduated from the course, and we were trying to find other creative ways to make sure that we get that, get it out there and then and get that moving from the merchant adoption. So that's kind of the that's part of the next phase.

Mike Peterson  
Well, curious, if you if there's any other things you want to cover, I'm not, because I haven't been there yet or haven't seen it. I hope to be there next year. Hopefully come, come check it out. But is there any other things you want to talk about that?

Adam Cowperthwait  
Yeah, I'm actually launching another project called Bitcoin Montserrat, okay, it's a small island in the Caribbean, near Antigua, about 4000 in population. And so the kind of the story here goes that my buddy who I went to college with has been telling me about this island since college, how beautiful it is. His grandparents bought island in the or bought property on the island in the 70s,

Mike Peterson  
In a former like French colony? 

Adam Cowperthwait  
UK. 

Mike Peterson  
UK, okay

Adam Cowperthwait  
Okay, yeah. And it was actually George Martin, who was the producer for the Beatles built a recording studio on the island in the 70s. Some of the biggest albums of the 70s and 80s were recorded on Montserrat. It was a thriving cultural scene, Earth, Wind and Fire. John Lennon, you name it. They were all going down there, staying for months at a time and recording albums on Montserrat and about 13,000 in population at that time and again, just like this. There's this documentary on it called under the volcano, which you can watch, which really actually inspired my bitcoin lens of this. So unfortunately, what what happened is is music transitioned from analog to digital in the in the 90s, and at the in the 90s as well. In 95 specifically the the Supre Hills volcano exploded on the island and wiped out the town of Plymouth, which was the capital, and made two thirds of the island uninhabitable and and at risk of the volcano going off again. And so the UK offers citizenship to everybody on the island who wanted it. And so it kind of dwindled in population to around 3000 and so it's gone through some hard times after some thriving cultural times in the 70s and 80s. And I kind of watched this document. Chronicling all of that. And I was like, How perfect would that be for a revival via Bitcoin? And then there's also the geothermal energy angle of the volcano. There's two geothermal wells drilled on the island that they haven't built a power plant for yet, and they're currently the highest cost of energy in the Caribbean because they're importing it all via diesel and fuel. So been talking with a lot of people here just kind of, I'm not, you know, on the energy or mining side, but the implications for for that island are very powerful in that in kind of reducing their energy costs. And then ultimately, the size of the island, of about four to 5000 a population, is really interesting to me from a capacity perspective. You know that your target, right? Your target is educating, is educating the whole island, right? So,

Mike Peterson  
and I found those smaller populations, especially if they're somewhat isolated, that that's a more fruitful, or more fertile ground for circular Bitcoin economy. So yeah, 

Adam Cowperthwait  
Herman and I were just talking about that. Actually, he was encouraging me, within the Bitcoin Victoria Falls project to really not think about it from 170,000 people, but really focus on specific geographic areas within Livingston that this can kind of grow or 

Mike Peterson  
because the importance is the concentration, because then you have the network effect again. So it's much better to have 10 stores on one street than like, 20 stores spread, like across a giant city, because then you don't get that network effect.

Adam Cowperthwait  
Yeah, and that's the cool thing in Livingston, is there's this market called the duwamba North Market, where David's shop is. And we just like Bitcoin akazi printed or painted the shops lutondo and all them. We painted David shop with the Bitcoin Victoria Falls logo, and we're looking to do some more shop painting on on that in that market. And I was waking up the other day for the unconference, for the me premiere Bitcoin unconference, and I had a message from David, and he said, since you painted my shop, I've informally educated 178 people that have asked asked about the painting, and so we might kind of zero in on that dumba north market area and and figure out what we can do to kind of geographically stay a little focused within the living stone community. But, you know, getting back to the Montserrat side of things, you know, the exclusion zone kind of cutting off two thirds of the island from being developed any longer, and really focusing in on the 1/3 of the island that that's where people live and that can be developed, I think, kind of really does feel attainable, right? And given that energy is so difficult to act, to export, almost impossible to to do so in many cases, I think there's a large implication for what the possibilities are within that area of the world as well.

Mike Peterson  
Oh, that's exciting. Have you if people want to follow that or Yeah, have you set up a Twitter handle yet for that project? 

Adam Cowperthwait  
Yeah, I think it's BTC Montserrat and Bitcoin Victoria Falls is our Twitter handle for that. Those are the two there. I'm at Cowpertweets, and then also on noster for myself and the Bitcoin Victoria Falls project. Bitcoin Victoria Falls at nostr plebs.com Humphreys, very active on noster as well. So we keep a big profile on there. And he's at, he's at Bitcoin underscore diary on both, both x and on Nostr. 

Mike Peterson  
Okay, yep. And people that would want to help support the projects there is there a place where they can donate SATs, or they want to come volunteer on the ground? What's, what's the best way for people to help and get involved?

Adam Cowperthwait  
Yeah, we have a geyser fund going for both projects. Again, we're kind of leading into launching Bitcoin Montserrat in 2025 and we're looking to really elevate Bitcoin Victoria Falls in 2020, 20 or 2025 would also, I think we're looking for people that want to get involved in Livingston and in the Bitcoin Victoria Falls community. It's a beautiful area of the world. If you're a bitcoiner and want to go on some safaris and travel, there's a one you can spend your Bitcoin there, but to come and stay for a while and get it, get involved and come speak at one of our meetups. So I think Bitcoin Victoria evolves is very fertile for Bitcoiners to come and visit and explore and help and help us grow and with Bitcoin. Montserrat, I'm actually really looking for a teacher or co founder who wants to help support the project and be and help to find a community leader there. That's been a challenge. It's with 4000 people. I haven't been able to find a bitcoiner yet. That's that's local. I do have some connections to the island from through Bitcoin policy UK. But I think if you know anybody in Montserrat, or know of a Montserrat and in the UK, let me know, especially if they're they're Bitcoin knowledgeable. So those are kind of the two areas that that would be the most supportive as we kind of go into a new year here. 

Mike Peterson  
Awesome. Well, definitely encourage people to check. Them out and support them something just a bug in your ear, maybe for for next year, after the one of the African conferences, whether the adopting Bitcoin in South Africa, or the wherever they have the other what's the other conference? 

Adam Cowperthwait  
The Africa Bitcoin across Africa, Bitcoin Conference, I believe that's in December in Nairobi.

Mike Peterson  
Nairobi, yeah, so maybe next year you try to plan, like post that a, you know, type of a trip to Victoria Falls, where people can do white water rafting or go on safari or something like that. Because I'm sure there's a lot of, you know, international Bitcoiners that are coming over there, and, you know, that's a long flight and everything to get there, you might as well, you know, take advantage of that and see, see another Bitcoin community, but also experience some of the beauty of Africa while you're there. So, 

Adam Cowperthwait  
Yeah, that's a great idea. 

Mike Peterson  
Fun thing to do. 

Adam Cowperthwait  
I like that because I had, I mean, it's, it's naturally, that's what's happening here, Adopting Bitcoin, right?

Mike Peterson  
Oh, there's all these other side trips and stuff. Yeah, it's great to see them. You know, I'll kind of blossom around the the conference. 

Adam Cowperthwait  
Yeah, satellite events. And I know last year for adopting Bitcoin Cape Town, they did. They went and visited, visited akazi. Yeah, Bitcoin wit send and so, yeah, like adding another Victoria Falls satellite trip is the perfect, perfect idea. 

Mike Peterson  
Well, cool. Well, I appreciate you coming in, and it was great to get to know you see you face to face, yeah, and we'll definitely make it over to your side of the world, over there and visit the project. 

Adam Cowperthwait  
Awesome. Thank you very much. Mike, 

Mike Peterson  
Thanks, Adam.