In 2022, El Salvador was a hub for the crypto scene in Latin America, so Ray naturally made a visit to meet some of the people driving crypto adoption. While he was there, he heard about a small island village called Isla Tasajera, about two hours southeast of the capital, San Salvador. Remote communities like Isla Tasajera are often the first to embrace cryptocurrency because they are usually under-serviced by traditional financial institutions.
One of Ray’s business philosophies is to return part of his business profits to the communities where he operates, so when he heard that the 1,500 residents of Isla Tasajera had difficulty traveling to the mainland, he took notice. When he discovered that the students and teachers who lived on the island found it difficult to pay the $3 for the boat crossing on their daily commute to school, he knew he had to help.
With help from Bitcoin Magazine and Francisco Gavidia University, Ray approved the purchase of a ferry – dubbed the “Bitcoin Boat” – which was given to the islanders so that they could travel to the mainland each day for free.
When the boat was launched in 2022, Ray said, “Our foundation exists because communities like Isla Tasajera are willing to embrace change. While many parts of the developed world are fixated on the speculative activity of Bitcoin, the people of El Salvador are teaching us about its true use cases and the opportunity it presents for the greater financial inclusion of the underbanked.”
To further promote the benefits of crypto, Ray helped fund an education center, called La Casa Del Bitcoin, in San Salvador. When opening the center, Ray said, “Peer-to-peer platforms are driving adoption in emerging markets, but, as a people-powered platform, we understand that education is crucial to the next wave of adoption. This center will provide education, accessibility, and opportunity to a population that has been ignored by traditional finance. What the people of El Salvador do with crypto will be an example to the world of the real-world benefits of crypto in emerging markets.”