Located in Mossel Bay South Africa, Bitcoin Ekasi aims to create a bitcoin circular economy within the township (a low socio-economic community) through an existing not-for-profit, The Surfer Kids, which empowers underprivileged children through surfing.
‘Ekasi’ is a colloquial term derived from the Afrikaans word ‘lokasie’ referring to the vast slums that grew outside South African cities during Apartheid. Unemployment, crime, and poverty remain rife there. – X post by Bitcoin Ekasi
Surfer Kids runs a surf program 5 days a week with nearly 50 children from the local township. Their surf and skating center is an oasis for these children, a safe space to learn away from the community hardships. How does bitcoin fit into this? The coaches/leaders are paid in bitcoin, the children are rewarded for attendance, and local merchants, such as grocery stores and fast food vendors are on-boarded to accept bitcoin. This means the bitcoin accumulated by coaches and students can be spent with local vendors creating a flywheel effect for bitcoin to move around within the members of this township.
After the conference in Cape Town, over 20 attendees visited Bitcoin Ekasi to support the community. We visited the Ekasi Center, a literacy hub where kids are taught after school, and the Surfer Kids HQ, a recreation center (surf and skate) where relevant equipment is available. They are currently talking with the local municipality to build a larger community center to empower everyone, not just the children.
One area of this township is plastered with logos of bitcoin organizations. Residents of these homes are compensated with bitcoin for having their exterior branded with a logo. We rolled up our sleeves and painted our logo with the assistance of the community leader, Luthando. Although our logo has since changed, our proof of work remains.
To encourage people to measure value in bitcoin, they are moving away from denominating prices in USD and adopting sats (smallest unit of bitcoin) as their standard. Bitcoin Ekasi is one example of how a community can be empowered to use bitcoin. Next time you hear negative news about bitcoin, remember the impact it has on marginalized communities worldwide.
You can donate to Bitcoin Ekasi here.