The road to El Zonte was, quite literally, paved by Bitcoin.

Just a few years ago, surfers sniffing out the region’s world-class waves would have to drag their boards down dirt roads to reach this stretch of tropical shoreline.

But after Nayib Bukele, the self-described “world’s coolest dictator”, announced in 2021 that El Salvador would become the first country to make Bitcoin a legal tender, this small seaside town of 3,000 people was transformed.

The region had already been branded “Bitcoin Beach” – ground zero of the country’s cryptocurrency experiment – but Mr Bukele’s controversial crypto-policies turned what had been a trickle of interest into a tsunami.

Roads were quickly laid to welcome the influx of crypto-enthusiasts descending on their decentralised fiscal mecca, with almost every sign lining the streets boasting some form of Bitcoin reference.

The letter “B” no longer exists in El Zonte – all over the town it has been usurped by the Bitcoin symbol – and everyone from the owners of tamale stands to street vendors selling jewellery are happy to accept it.