Our WhatsApp group
The easiest way to meet the community, ask a question or hear about the next meetup.
Join WhatsAppLake Atitlán, and the Bitcoin community that lives here
Three volcanoes, Maya villages along the shore, and a strong group of people who pay, teach and welcome with Bitcoin.
A lake ringed by three volcanoes
Lake Atitlán fills a volcanic basin in the highlands of Sololá, Guatemala. The volcanoes Atitlán, Tolimán and San Pedro rise along its south shore.
Maya villages sit along the water. Kaqchikel and Tz’utujil are the main Maya languages spoken around the lake, and every village has its own character.
Panajachel is the busiest gateway. From its docks, public boats cross to San Marcos La Laguna, San Pedro La Laguna, Santiago Atitlán and other villages.
Bitcoin places on the map, by village
- Panajachel81
- San Marcos La Laguna10
- San Pedro La Laguna5
- Tzununá4
- Santiago Atitlán4
- San Antonio Palopó4
- San Juan La Laguna3
- Santa Catarina Palopó2
- San Andrés Semetabaj2
- Santa Cruz La Laguna1
- Jaibalito1
Village is assigned from each place’s map position, so it is approximate.
Bitcoin on the lake
117 places around Lake Atitlán have been listed on BTC Map over the years. About 50 of them take bitcoin actively today, from cafes and hotels to pharmacies and boat taxis.
- active today
- ~50
- places listed
- 117
- tagged Lightning
- 109
- tagged on-chain
- 59
Active count: Eliazar, interviews of January and May 2026, and voice answers of November 2026 (about 50, still growing). Listed places: BTC Map. How the count changed since 2022
117 places listed on BTC Map / OpenStreetMap, data of 2026-10-19.
Always check with the merchant: payment options and opening hours change. Each card shows the date of the last survey on OpenStreetMap, where one is listed.
Getting around with Bitcoin
A Bitcoin boat, a boat taxi and three tuk tuks are listed in Panajachel. In November 2026 Eliazar said the Bitcoin boat is a private boat that visitors can hire through him, and that two of the tuk tuks still accept bitcoin (voice answers, November 2026). Contact details are copied from the listings. Ask about the fare before you go.
Bitcoin Boat
Boat
Pier 2 Pier Bitcoin Boat Taxi
Boat
Niul - Tuk Tuk
Tuk tuk
Victor Tuk Tuk
Tuk tuk
AugustoMac Tuk Tuk
Tuk tuk
A community that meets, teaches and welcomes
Meetups
Once a month we meet in Panajachel to talk Bitcoin, swap sats and drink local coffee.
- Monthly. Each date is posted on X by @JUN_AJPU_btc.
- Panajachel. The venue comes with each date.
Bitcoin in schools
Since 2023 we teach Bitcoin courses with a diploma, from primary schools to universities. Students make their first Lightning payments in class.
So far: Centro Educativo Josué, LTK School, Colegio Ebenezer, AMA School, INEDSC in Santa Catarina Palopó, Ciencias Comerciales in Sololá (200 students per course) and UVG Altiplano.
Follow and write to us
Who we are
Bitcoin Lago was founded in 2021 by Patrick Melder together with friends and supporters. Eliazar, known as Eli, is the local base and does the work around the lake. In November 2026 he said Ricky helps from far away, volunteers join from time to time, and for now he is the only one on the ground (voice answers, November 2026).
Photo and short bio of Eliazar to be added.
Around the lake with Bitcoin Lago
Photographs from published coverage
Plan your stay with Bitcoin Lago
Tours, stays, transport, real estate, a soft landing for newcomers, team retreats. Our strength: we connect you directly with the local people who do it best, so you pay local prices and almost every cost of your trip goes down.
Tell us what you need and we arrange it directly with local providers we know around the lake, with no agency in the middle. That is how we bring down almost every cost of your visit. You pay in bitcoin, and every local business we bring in learns to accept it. That is how the community grows.
What Atitlán Bitcoin Tours offers
- Hikes and volcanoes. Easy, medium and hard hikes on the mountains and volcanoes around the lake, with viewpoints and the largest caves on the lake. Source
- Volcán de Fuego. A personal plan to see an active volcano up close. Source
- ATVs and paragliding. Ride around the lake on ATVs, or fly over it by paraglider. Source
- Coffee, cacao and honey. Coffee tours with Bit Mayan Coffee, how cacao is grown and roasted, and a honey tour. Source
- Weaving and natural dyes. See how Maya weavers spin cotton yarn and dye it with fruits, seeds and plants, and try the loom yourself. Source
- The Palopó towns. San Antonio Palopó for ceramics, hot springs and a viewpoint, and colourful Santa Catarina Palopó. Source
- Santa Cruz, Tzununá and Jaibalito. Villages by boat: Santa Cruz La Laguna seven minutes from Panajachel, Tzununá with its waterfalls, and Jaibalito, reached only by water. Source
- Chichicastenango market. One of the biggest markets in Guatemala, where Maya ceremonies are still held. Source
Visiting the lake
- Lake days by boat: the villages, sunrise and sunset rides, the Bitcoin boat
- Hikes and adventure: Rostro Maya at sunrise, San Pedro volcano, viewpoints, kayaks, paragliding, ATVs
- Culture and craft: weaving and natural dyes, chocolate, honey, coffee, cooking with a Maya family, the Sololá and Chichicastenango markets
- Getting here and around: shuttles from the airport or Antigua, private drivers, private boats, tuk tuks, scooters and bikes
- Local guides, photographers and day trips to Antigua, Chichicastenango and beyond
- Wellness: massage, yoga, temazcal and Maya ceremonies with local practitioners
- Food: a private cook, cooking classes, local restaurants that take bitcoin
Working and living here
- Stays that accept bitcoin: hotels, apartments and villas, for a week or a season
- A soft landing: SIM card, internet good enough for calls, coworking, cash and banks, the right town for you
- Moving here: introductions to long rentals, land, builders and local lawyers for residency
- Spanish classes and homestays with local families
- Everyday help: laundry, cleaning, repairs, a trusted doctor or dentist, a phone fixed
Real estate and investing
- Real estate investment: land, houses and lots around the lake, found through local owners, not agencies
- Checks before you buy: introductions to local lawyers and notaries for titles and paperwork
- Building and renovating: local architects, builders and craftspeople
- After you buy: property care, rentals to visitors, and local businesses that want to accept bitcoin
Groups and teams
- Team retreats and offsites: venue, transport, food and activities in one plan
- Bitcoin workshops for your group, and a visit to one of our school classes
- Meetups and events with local merchants who accept bitcoin
- Conferences, weddings and celebrations by the lake, organised with local providers
Support the work
- Sponsor a course or a graduation, fund class equipment, or donate Bitcoin books to the Panajachel library shelf
- Volunteer: teach a class, run a workshop, or help a local business start accepting bitcoin
- Visit a graduation and spend your sats with the merchants who accept them
New on the lake?
There is a group of expats on the lake and we serve them. We help anyone integrate into the Bitcoin community here, whether you are visiting, staying for a season or settling.
Talk to usOur story
Bitcoin Lago began in Panajachel in 2021. It was founded by Patrick Melder with friends and supporters, out of years of volunteering at Centro Educativo Josué. Eliazar, our local leader, started by visiting businesses one by one.
One of my main goals with Bitcoin Lago is simply to teach about Bitcoin to all the communities around Lake Atitlán, from 10-year-old children to 100-year-old adults. One of my greatest dreams is for every town around the lake to learn about Bitcoin and use it, and one day to open a Bitcoin center here.
Year by year
- 2021
Bitcoin Lago starts in Panajachel in late 2021. From March 2022 Eliazar visited businesses one by one, and the first merchants accepted bitcoin: Amaranto, Coffee Art and an ice cream shop (voice answers, November 2026).
- 2022
Kaboom: used cooking oil ran a generator that mined bitcoin. In November 2026 Eliazar said it has stopped, because the team could not cover the running costs. The lake team travels to Adopting Bitcoin in El Salvador. Source: 1 2
- 2023
Bitcoin enters the classroom: diploma courses at Centro Educativo Josué and a first course for teachers. The Bitcoin Beach team visits and rides the Bitcoin boat. Tuk tuks start taking bitcoin. Source: 1 2 3
- 2024
Courses at LTK School, Colegio Ebenezer, AMA School and INEDSC in Santa Catarina Palopó. Students open their first Fedi community. Wallets and books arrive from the Swiss Bitcoin community. Talks at UVG in Sololá. Source: 1 2 3
- 2025
A Bitcoin shelf opens at the Panajachel public library. Our first university course, at UVG Altiplano. 200 students at Ciencias Comerciales in Sololá. Classes in the local Maya language in San Antonio Palopó, and bitcoin reaches Santiago Atitlán. Source: 1 2 3 4
- 2026
The first graduation of the year is recorded on the Bitcoin blockchain. 200 more students in Sololá, a Lightning workshop for a women's group, a container hotel and Chui Juyub coffee join, and Atitlán Bitcoin Tours launches. Source: 1 2 3 4
Read the full story, year by year
45 moments from 2022 to today, with photos and sources.
Watch the videos and read the stories
Interviews, documentaries and talks since 2022, each with a written summary.
Visitor questions
Paying, wallets, cash, getting around and how to help, in short answers.
In the press
- Bloomberg Línea, March 2022
Bitcoin Lake: Guatemala's Crypto Enclave Launches
Bitcoin offers an economic freedom that is not found in current fiat currencies or other cryptocurrencies.
Read - Bitcoin Magazine, September 2022
Visit The Guatemalan Lake Town Mining Bitcoin With Used Cooking Oil
We don't have any major endowment or donations to do what we are doing.
Read
Photo: Bitcoin Magazine, via Visit The Guatemalan Lake Town Mining Bitcoin With Used Cooking Oil 
Photo: Bitcoin Magazine, via Visit The Guatemalan Lake Town Mining Bitcoin With Used Cooking Oil 
Photo: Bitcoin Magazine, via Visit The Guatemalan Lake Town Mining Bitcoin With Used Cooking Oil 
Photo: Bitcoin Magazine, via Visit The Guatemalan Lake Town Mining Bitcoin With Used Cooking Oil - El Faro, March 2022
Bitcoin Believers Look for New Paradise at Mayan Lake
We're trying to create a circular bitcoin economy like they did in El Zonte, but with a twist: we're using formal school training versus community training.
Read
Photo: El Faro, via Bitcoin Believers Look for New Paradise at Mayan Lake 
Photo: El Faro, via Bitcoin Believers Look for New Paradise at Mayan Lake 
Photo: El Faro, via Bitcoin Believers Look for New Paradise at Mayan Lake 
Photo: El Faro, via Bitcoin Believers Look for New Paradise at Mayan Lake 
Photo: El Faro, via Bitcoin Believers Look for New Paradise at Mayan Lake 
Photo: El Faro, via Bitcoin Believers Look for New Paradise at Mayan Lake - Gizmodo, September 2022
Christian Missionaries Are Turning to the Gospel of Bitcoin in Latin America
Bitcoin evangelism is no different than Christian evangelism.
Read
Photo: Gizmodo, via Christian Missionaries Are Turning to the Gospel of Bitcoin in Latin America 
Photo: Gizmodo, via Christian Missionaries Are Turning to the Gospel of Bitcoin in Latin America 
Photo: Gizmodo, via Christian Missionaries Are Turning to the Gospel of Bitcoin in Latin America 
Photo: Gizmodo, via Christian Missionaries Are Turning to the Gospel of Bitcoin in Latin America 
Photo: Gizmodo, via Christian Missionaries Are Turning to the Gospel of Bitcoin in Latin America - Kayak Guatemala, 2022
Discovering the Bitcoin Community at Lake Atitlán
More and more visitors are asking us about how they can spend bitcoin in Lake Atitlán, and I'm excited to share that our region has truly become a part of the global bitcoin movement.
Read - Bitcoin Magazine, March 2023
Inside Bitcoin Lake: Lessons From My Months As A Volunteer With Guatemala's Groundbreaking Project
I have seen firsthand that this project has successfully onboarded more than 60 merchants, of whom 90% are unbanked and solely accept cash and bitcoin.
Read - Bloomberg Línea, June 2022
Trabajadores en San Marcos La Laguna se capacitan para recibir pagos en bitcoin
No todos necesitan entender cómo funcionan las billeteras HD, o los beneficios de taproot.
Read
Photo: Bloomberg Línea, via Trabajadores en San Marcos La Laguna se capacitan para recibir pagos en bitcoin 
Photo: Bloomberg Línea, via Trabajadores en San Marcos La Laguna se capacitan para recibir pagos en bitcoin 
Photo: Bloomberg Línea, via Trabajadores en San Marcos La Laguna se capacitan para recibir pagos en bitcoin - Cointelegraph, April 2022
Why is a Guatemalan mayor mining Bitcoin? Tackling FUD with biogas and BTC
The goal of this proof-of-concept is to capture the wasted fuel and convert the biogas into electricity/Bitcoin.
Read - Adopting Bitcoin 2022, 2022
Patrick Melder, speaker page
Patrick Melder is a Bitcoin missionary and a Christian one, in Guatemala.
Read
Bitcoin Lake: Bitcoin Adoption in Guatemala - Eliazar, Rudy - AB23 Day 2 - Blink Stage
As presented at Adopting Bitcoin 2023, the team described three goals: education, adoption and mining.
Channel: Adopting Bitcoin
YouTube loads only after you press play.
Partners
Organisations that work with Bitcoin Lago and support Bitcoin at the lake.
A global federation that connects and supports local Bitcoin circular economies like ours.
Bitcoin-only company in Guatemala: buy bitcoin straight to your own wallet, hardware wallets, advice and free meetups.
A Bitcoin-native district and community in Próspera, Roatán, Honduras.
A festival of Bitcoin films and culture, born in Warsaw, with screenings around the world.
A Lightning wallet for everyday bitcoin payments, formerly the Bitcoin Beach Wallet.
.jpg){kind=link}
