Bitcoin (BTC), and crypto assets in general, are usually viewed as investment vehicles. Currently, its use as a means of payment in everyday life is not as popular as crypto proponents might hope. There are exceptions, however: on a beach in Brazil, there is plenty to do in a closed economy used bitcoin as a means of payment.
Brazil’s Bitcoin Beach Says Lightning Network Works Better Than Visa https://t.co/TcXpClA4au pic.twitter.com/WTroiTtygY
— Forbes (@Forbes) April 11, 2023
The Brazilian Bitcoin beach
In the idyllic Brazilian beach village Jericoacoara a small community is trying to keep an economy going independently of the Brazilian real and the US dollar. That seems to be going well. The community, Praia Bitcoin, ‘Bitcoin beach’ in Portuguese, processed using the Bitcoin Lightning Network 71 transactions in just over three minutes.
“This was only possible because the Lightning Network is ready for the public. Currently, there is no other option that is ready for such a market with the functional solutions of the Bitcoin Lightning Network. It’s better than Visa.”
Said Praia Bitcoin founder Fernando Motolese. The goal of the project is to create a circular economy that runs entirely on the Bitcoin Lightning Network, a system created to process bitcoin transactions faster. Several small businesses in Jerioacara are now using bitcoin.
“Lightning makes it possible to send and receive bitcoin without having to wait for block confirmations. The transaction takes milliseconds. There is no other payment system that compares to Lightning. We are building the financial system of the coming decades and we are using bitcoin as a medium of exchange.”
The potential of Lightning
Thus a laudatory and optimistic Motolese. An alternative financial system with, for example, the Bitcoin Lightning Network is growing in relevance, according to Motolese. He points to the recent rattling banking sector and the fading confidence in the traditional banking system.
There are now several local communities worldwide that are trying to achieve a similar goal as Praia Bitcoin. According to Motolese, the masses will soon see that Bitcoin is more than an investment product, and that the Lighting Network has the potential to realize financial freedom.
“Bitcoin and Lightning makes it possible to use a faster, cheaper and more efficient monetary system.”