El Salvador Launches Bitcoin, Lightning Network Dev Courses for University Students

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Tim Alper

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Tim Alper

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Tim Alper is a British journalist and features writer who has worked at Cryptonews.com since 2018. He has written for media outlets such as the BBC, the Guardian, and Chosun Ilbo. He has also worked...

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October 23, 2023 07:27 EDT

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The El Salvador government has announced the launch of new university courses in Bitcoin (BTC) and Lightning Network development.

The government’s Bitcoin Office unveiled its plans on Twitter. It explained that its new “CUBO+” courses will comprise an “advanced bitcoin engineering program that lasts several months.” 

The courses will “offer credit as well as placement for those who qualify” for an “inaugural fellowship,” the office wrote.

The office added that the project was being funded by Tether, the USDT developer, and Fulgur Ventures, a BTC and Lightning-focused investment firm.

In October of 2022, El Salvador opened its first Bitcoin Embassy in Lugano, Switzerland

Just four months later, we have some big results from this relationship to share with you: CUBO+

This is a first of its kind Bitcoin and Lightning dev training program in El Salvador 🇸🇻 pic.twitter.com/qfFfSYVl4f

— The Bitcoin Office (@bitcoinofficesv) March 15, 2023

The Bitcoin Office answers directly to President Nayib Bukele.

El Salvador’s Bitcoin Lightning Dev Courses – Who’ll Be Teaching Them?

The government arm announced that “the biggest names in Bitcoin from around the world” would be recruited to work as lecturers and mentors. 

And the mentors, it said, would work with “El Salvador’s best and brightest computer science students.”

The office wrote:

“The bitcoiners who will participate as lecturers and mentors will be announced soon. The aim is excellence. And nothing less. […] Bitcoin is for everyone. And we will prove that.”

And the government body further claimed that the development was the result of progress made by the El Salvador Bitcoin Embassy in Lugano, Switzerland. The embassy opened its doors in October 2022.

CUBO+, the body added, will be a “first-of-its-kind Bitcoin and Lightning development training program” for El Salvador.

Going has not been smooth for Bukele and his BTC-advocating supporters. Since the government granted BTC legal tender status in September 2021, the Bitcoin market has suffered periods of prolonged volatility.

In October last year, a Central American University survey found that 77% of Salvadorans believe BTC adoption has “not benefited them at all.”

But Bukele will not be deterred easily. His approval ratings remain sky-high in El Salvador as he seeks a second term in forthcoming elections.

🇸🇻"Suspected gang members have been arrested as part of a crackdown which has sent the approval ratings of Nayib Bukele, the president, soaring to as high as 90 per cent, according to the @CrisisGroup."

But human rights groups have criticised his methods.https://t.co/aujV0YL2k9

— Crisis Group Latinoamérica (@ICGlatam) March 7, 2023

And his government has paved the way for a Bitcoin bonds issuance that his Nuevas Ideas party believes will help boost the nation’s international profile.