A visitor tries to spend bitcoin in Panajachel on a Sunday, May 2023
The Reverend Hodl channel follows one morning of coffee, a stale map listing and a breakfast paid over Lightning, with a score of one in three.
One visitor, one morning
On Sunday, May 21, 2023, the creator of the YouTube channel Reverend Hodl filmed a short walk through Panajachel on a GoPro. He had checked into a hotel the night before where he paid entirely in bitcoin, and he wanted to see how far a visitor could get on a normal morning. He also hoped to find a bitcoin barber for a haircut. The video was posted two days later. It shows one person's experience in May 2023, and things may have changed since.
Using the map, and what he found
His plan was to follow the Bitcoin map. His first stop was a coffee shop, then a lakefront cafe that appeared on the map. He was stopped at the front door and learned it no longer accepted bitcoin. He said he would report it to the group so the listing could be corrected. A second place did not advertise bitcoin, which he did not expect it to. A third, a breakfast spot that had been reported to accept bitcoin only four months earlier, had a bitcoin sign. His count, in his words: one for three.
It is a useful reminder for anyone planning a trip. A map listing can go out of date, and staff may change. Checking before you sit down, or asking for the sign, saves time.
Paying for breakfast over Lightning
He ordered a ham and cheese omelette and coffee, then paid with Wallet of Satoshi to the restaurant's account in the Bitcoin Beach wallet, now called Blink. The cost was 16,493 sats, which he gave as about six dollars. That conversion looks high: at the prices of that month, that many sats were worth closer to four or five dollars.
The process was not perfect. Instead of being shown an invoice, he had to copy the merchant's address, and he said that takes a lot of trust. But he liked what he got: the payment was instant, the merchant and the buyer both saw it at the same moment, and the app asked if he wanted to leave a tip. He described there being some growing pains, but he believes it is happening here.
The Bitcoin wall
The video ends at the big Bitcoin wall, which he called a famous landmark of the project. It sits about a block off Rancho Grande, the main street running down toward the lake, so visitors in the center of town cannot miss it. He also noted that the next day was Bitcoin Pizza Day, May 22.
What we learn
This is not a promotional video, and that is why it is useful. It shows what a visitor who does not know the area meets: a hotel that took full payment in bitcoin, a map that was a little behind, and a payment flow that works but still asks the user to trust a copied address. It fits what Patrick Melder and Rudy Gallardo said in a podcast that same month: adoption is not instant, and it depends on education.
In their words
I'm one for three.
The payment is instant, and the merchant and the buyer both know at the same time.
I think there are some growing pains, but I believe it's happening here.
This summary is based on the video's automatic captions. If something is wrong, tell us and we will fix it.
