Dvoracek, a 71-year-old Czech national who sells artisan bread with his Venezuelan wife at local food markets, said he is now doing around 25% of his sales through the new Bitcoin Jungle wallet.
“It’s been amazing,” said Dvoracek, who lived in Venezuela for 20 years.
The evolution of Bitcoin Jungle in this region means that El Salvador is no longer the only place in Central America where you can buy a coffee with bitcoin before hitting the beach.
A pharmacy next door recently started taking bitcoin, as did a slew of restaurants and other tourist-oriented businesses in the town of Uvita, a 15-minute drive south of Dominical.
In total, around 50 roving market vendors and 20 brick-and-mortar businesses have signed up to the Bitcoin Jungle project since it was launched about six months ago.
The project is a prime example of how the original Bitcoin Beach in El Salvador’s El Zonte — which presaged that country’s decision to make bitcoin legal tender last year — is spurring the organic growth of local bitcoin ecosystems elsewhere in the world.
Like the El Zonte project, Bitcoin Jungle’s wallet runs on the second layer Lightning Network, making transactions vastly faster and cheaper than they would be on the underlying bitcoin blockchain.
Scotford says that Costa Rica’s economy and financial system demanded a different approach for Bitcoin Jungle.
For their part, hotels, restaurants and retreat centers get an escape route from painfully high credit card fees and the chance to hold some bitcoin for the long term.
After the first week of Bitcoin Jungle going live in the local markets, every vendor took the option to cash out.
“It’s been an incredible progression at the markets,” he said.
Costa Rica’s government has taken a restrained approach to cryptocurrencies, accepting them as legal to use but warning citizens that buying them can be risky.
Fuad Yantani, a 43-year-old Chilean selling cold-pressed juices, said that Bitcoin Jungle payments made up a small but growing portion of his sales.