Are Bitcoiners In El Salvador Just Rebuilding The System They Tried To Escape? | Will Lehr

Mike Peterson joins CK to share the story of Bitcoin Beach in El Zonte, El Salvador, and how it became a model for a circular economy. The conversation explores his journey from a California surfer to a community leader in El Salvador, where bitcoin moved from theory into practice. Together, they discuss why bitcoin must be used as money rather than just digital gold, how saving in bitcoin changed lives in El Zonte, and what it means for a nation to adopt bitcoin as legal tender. The episode ...

6 Sep 46min

This is a special episode from The Sovereign Podcast, hosted by Michael Ruiz, where Mike Peterson joined as a guest. In this conversation, Mike shares the full story of Bitcoin Beach and how a grassroots project in El Zonte helped inspire El Salvador to make Bitcoin legal tender. He talks about how the project began, the challenges of community building, and the mindset shift that happens when people start earning in Bitcoin. From keeping youth out of gangs to showing the world what a workin...

23 Aug 1h 11min

What happens when Bitcoiners stop waiting for legacy platforms and start building their own? In this episode, Mike sits down with Jake Seifert, co-founder of AirBTC, a Bitcoin-first alternative to Airbnb. Jake’s not just talking about circular economy theory, he’s out there trying to make it real, one travel listing at a time. They get into the friction points of convincing Bitcoiners to actually spend their Bitcoin, the role of KYC in a decentralized travel platform, and why it’s not e...

9 Aug 39min

What does it actually take to mine Bitcoin in El Salvador? In this episode, Mike sits down with Josue Lopez, CEO of Volcano Energy, to break down what’s really happening beyond the hype. Josue explains how his team is building energy infrastructure from the ground up, solar, wind, and geothermal, to support a truly sovereign energy mining operation. This isn’t about plugging into someone else’s grid. It’s about designing a system that El Salvador controls end-to-end. They get into the detail...

2 Aug 1h 9min

What happens when a Salvadoran developer quits trading shitcoins, starts driving Uber, and ends up shaping national Bitcoin education policy? In this episode, Mike sits down with Acreonte, one of the first graduates of the Cubo Plus program and now a key player behind El Salvador’s push to integrate Bitcoin into its institutions. Acreonte shares what it’s really like to live on a Bitcoin standard, from earning SATs at Plan B Network to spending them with the Blink wallet at farmers markets an...

26 Juli 1h 28min

For families considering life in El Salvador, this episode dives into what educational freedom really looks like on the ground. Mike talks with Ana Larios, co-founder of Escuela Libre and Skate, Paint & More, about building a community education program rooted in trust, creativity, and local connection. Ana shares how Escuela Libre grew from three families into a small but thriving homeschool community. It’s a space where kids learn without uniforms or testing, and where volunteers from ...

19 Juli 41min

Mario Flamenco didn’t follow a typical path into government. As a teenager in one of the world’s most violent countries, he started watching Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert talk about Bitcoin on late-night reruns. A few years later, he’s working alongside them at the Bitcoin Office in El Salvador and now helping lead the country's AI and robotics strategy. In this episode, Mario shares how El Salvador is using Bitcoin and artificial intelligence to create long-term economic change. We talk abou...

5 Juli 54min