In the annals of modern finance, El Salvador’s 2021 decision to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender is often dismissed as spectacle — a political stunt or a crypto fever dream. But for those who built and maintained the digital plumbing behind it, the story is far more grounded. In the latest episode of Bitcoin, Fiat & Rock’n’Roll (BFRR), co-host Jonas speaks with Tristan Thoma, a technologist who helped redesign the infrastructure that made this bold move function in practice. His message is simple: national digital currencies, when done right, are not ideology — they are infrastructure.
The Human Layer of National Digital Currency
Thoma’s path to this work is unconventional. He studied psychology and computer science, worked in mindfulness and social impact projects, and later turned to blockchain — seeing in it a system that could align incentives and human behavior. For him, blockchain isn’t a speculative tool but a way to coordinate and include. He explains that when a government launches a national digital wallet, it creates two lifelines: an on-ramp for the unbanked to access financial services, and an off-ramp for those trapped in failing or politicized systems. “Money is oxygen,” he says, recalling what a Bolivian economist told him. “Without access to it, you can’t breathe.”
Thoma is quick to clarify that El Salvador’s experiment wasn’t about turning every citizen into a Bitcoin evangelist. Most transactions still happen in dollars — the nation’s long-standing currency — but the rails have changed. Within three months of the rollout, the number of people using digital wallets doubled, financial inclusion soared, and GDP growth followed. The project proved that digital money could extend the reach of banking, capture economic data previously invisible to policymakers, and create new confidence in a nation’s balance sheet. “It’s not about replacing the dollar,” Thoma notes. “It’s about giving people access and optionality.”
Bolivia: Where Necessity Drives Innovation
Today, Thoma’s focus is on Bolivia, a country rich in natural resources but starved of liquidity. Inflation and currency controls have left many citizens unable to access their own savings. In this environment, abstract debates about “self-custody” become existential. Stablecoins and digital wallets aren’t speculative assets — they’re lifelines. Bolivia, he suggests, could leapfrog traditional finance by using blockchain to tokenize natural resources such as lithium, opening new channels for investment while maintaining transparency. It’s not about embracing Bitcoin per se, but about adapting technology to a national need: to restore trust, liquidity, and dignity in money itself.
Thoma’s approach is pragmatic. He defends consumer protection, AML compliance, and the role of banks as stabilizing institutions. Freedom and security, he says, are not opposites — they are complements. Citizens should have the choice between custodial services and full self-custody, with transparent education about risks and benefits. In Europe, similar discussions are unfolding around the digital euro and monetary sovereignty. The difference, Thoma argues, is urgency. The Global South doesn’t have the luxury of theorizing; its citizens need functioning systems now. The innovations born out of necessity there may soon become blueprints for the rest of the world.
Lessons for a New Generation
As the conversation closes, Jonas asks what advice Thoma would give to young listeners. His answer is both humble and inspiring: “Nobody really knows what they’re doing — we’re all figuring it out.” His counsel is to learn relentlessly, question respectfully, and keep people at the center of technology. Money, Thoma reminds us, is a public utility. “If money is oxygen,” he says, “then our job is to keep the air clean — to build systems that let everyone breathe.”
The future of money won’t be decided in trading charts or policy papers, but in the lived realities of people who use it every day. From El Salvador’s bold experiment to Bolivia’s coming transformation, the lesson is clear: digital currency is not about replacing the old order, but renewing it. It is infrastructure — messy, human, and full of promise. And as Thoma’s work shows, the places that need it most may just lead the way.
Website Tristan Thoma / Impera Strategy
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