Building bottom-up bitcoin economies with Isabella Santos

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Aug 6, 2025

In this engaging conversation, Isabella Santos, a passionate content creator and educator from Isla Mujeres, shares her journey in promoting Bitcoin as a tool for financial literacy and empowerment. She discusses how the local community is evolving into a circular economy and the transformative impact of saving in sats. Highlighting her work across Latin America, Isabella addresses cultural barriers to Bitcoin adoption and the importance of adapting education to local needs, all while fostering economic opportunities for previously underserved populations.

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INSIGHT

Bitcoin Adoption is Bottom-Up

Mass Bitcoin adoption happens bottom-up, not top-down.
Bitcoin provides people with freedom and practical saving advantages over fiat.

ANECDOTE

Bitcoin Transforms Local Savings

Locals save money through "tandas," rotating group savings.
Bitcoin savings helped students pay for studies and accident expenses effectively.

INSIGHT

Bitcoin Economies Vary by Community

Bitcoin circular economies adapt uniquely to local community needs.
Different areas use Bitcoin to solve distinct financial challenges.

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Isabella Santos is a content creator, educator, and bitcoiner. She runs BTC Isla on Isla Mujeres, where she’s planting seeds of financial literacy, self-custody, and sovereign empowerment—starting with Bitcoin education for locals. In this episode, Isabella joins The Bitcoin Frontier to share how she’s turning a sleepy island into a vibrant circular economy, what she’s learned documenting bitcoin adoption across Latin America, and why saving in sats is changing lives in Mexico.

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TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 – Intro
1:18 – From journalism to bitcoin advocacy
3:02 – Why she moved to Isla Mujeres
4:38 – Building BTC Isla and teaching bitcoin to locals
6:01 – Financial literacy, circular economies, and bottom-up adoption
9:10 – Saving in sats vs. fiat: real stories from her students
11:00 – Why Western bitcoin narratives don’t always resonate globally
13:02 – Documenting bitcoin in Peru, El Salvador, and beyond
15:03 – Adapting messaging to different cultures and education levels
17:03 – Launching Get Based TV for sovereign storytelling
20:41 – What “awakening the sovereign individual” really means
25:33 – Cultural hurdles to long-term thinking—and how Bitcoin helps
27:04 – Escaping abusive systems via bitcoin circular economies
29:34 – Lightning vs. on-chain: what matters on the ground
31:04 – How self-custody education meets infrastructure limits
34:18 – BitFit Games: gamified bitcoin education + community fitness
36:07 – Building her own bitcoin citadel, gym, and villas
39:02 – Accepting bitcoin at the gym and beyond
40:05 – What’s next: villas, education reform, and new docs
42:13 – How to support BTC Isla

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