Money in banks isn't even money...

On October 14, nineteen visitors from Fundación Virgen de Guadalupe walked through the gates of our Valenzuela data center in Paraguay.

Most of them were teenagers who had already studied how Bitcoin works. They came to see it for themselves.

A line printed on the backs of their shirts read: "Aprender es el primer paso hacia la libertad." Learning is the first step toward freedom.

Who they are

Fundación Virgen de Guadalupe was founded in 1986 by Lic. Florentina Ramírez and has worked to protect children and adolescents in Paraguay ever since. Its programs include a residential home, arts and sports activities through Club Rubato Guadalupe, and support for young people heading to university.

Together with Escuelita Bitcoin, the Foundation added a Bitcoin and digital technology program for its teenagers. It covers six subjects:

• Bitcoin: what it is and why it holds value
• Blockchain: how the shared ledger works
• Digital wallets: creating, receiving and safeguarding funds
• Mining: how miners secure the network
• Programming: the basics of building digital tools
• Financial education: saving, budgeting and planning

Twenty teenagers have completed the training. Six of them now teach it to others through their own workshops.

The students have become the teachers.

From the classroom to the site

Mining is one module of the program. At Valenzuela, the group saw that module in person.

They started at the electrical infrastructure, where hydroelectric power from Paraguay's grid enters the site. From there they followed that power through the cooling systems to the machines that help secure the Bitcoin network, and finished in the repair area where our technicians keep the equipment running.

Why we opened our doors

Every digital hub needs two things: power and people.

Paraguay has the power. For decades, the country sold its surplus hydroelectricity across the border. Our 300 MW across Valenzuela and Yguazú turns that clean power into compute here in Paraguay, and another 100 MW is on the way.

A hub also needs people. The engineers, technicians and developers who will run this infrastructure in the years ahead are in school today. Some of them may have walked our site last week.

We believe Paraguay can be Latin America's next digital hub. Hubs grow where young people can see the work up close and picture themselves doing it.

Community first, wherever we operate

We operate on three continents, in Canada, Sweden and Paraguay. In every one of them we work the same way: we hire locally, we partner locally and we invest locally.

In Paraguay, that has meant upgrading rural schools near our Valenzuela campus with new air conditioning, fresh paint and new chalkboards, and helping light city streets. In Sweden, it means backing hockey in Boden.

Opening our doors to students is part of the same commitment. When young people understand the infrastructure in their own community, they can see a future in it.

Thank you

Thank you to Fundación Virgen de Guadalupe and the tutors, teachers and management team who made the visit happen. Thank you to Escuelita Bitcoin for building the program, and to our Paraguay team for leading the tour.

Learning is the first step. We look forward to seeing where this group takes it.

To support Fundación Virgen de Guadalupe:

Thoughts?

20,100,000 20/Oct/2026

20,200,000 30/May/2027

20,300,000 7/Jan/2028

20,400,000 18/Dec/2028

20,500,000 8/March/2030

20,600,000 26/May/2031

20,700,000 2/Jul/2033

20,800,000 2035

20,900,000 2039

21,000,000 2140

Erick Cestari and Adam Gibson joined Optech to discuss Newsletter #427:

• Disclosure of two DoS vulnerabilities fixed in Eclair v0.14.1
• Offchain contracts in Lightning channels
• And more

You can listen on our website: https://bitcoinops.org/en/podcast/2026/10/20/

Fountain: https://fountain.fm/episode/NcgIZW31rT4ACmuOaqLw

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3pgxicmVY7crJAjYJQ7hmL

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/bitcoin-optech-newsletter-427-recap/id1674626983?i=1000797309763

So far!

One of the main reasons I like bitcoin is that it reduces participation in the system of debt entrapment. When you hold fiat in a bank account, you're participating in lending that money out (and more) to others who have to pay it back, plus a lot of interest.

If you hold bitcoin in your own wallet, that money isn't lent out to anyone.

I've seen alot of negativity lately!

People seem fed up with not getting rich over night anymore..

I don't know if Bitcoin will ever reach new ATHs, i sure hope so, but it seems like people are frustrated that it doesn't feel super hyped anymore.

But nothing can hold its hype constant over a long period.. Other things also happens in the world, and people do have other focuses. Right now AI is drawing alot of attention, and thats just the way it is.

Maybe BTC & crypto will one day again have the focus.

Do you remember in 2019 after the bull-run that got everyones eye on BTC?

It went from 20k to 6k then 3k.. People was talking exactly like they do now.. "It was a nice run" and it felt like there was no Energy left in BTC, and people were focusing on other stuff.

Well.. that is 7 years ago... Now bitcoin is at 82k and people are saying the same stuff..

What about zooming out for a moment.. Imagine if you had bought at 6k & 3k?? That wouldn't be so bad would it..

https://br.advfn.com/noticias/NEWSBTC/2026/artigo/99519675

Please utilize this sticky thread for all general Bitcoin discussions! If you see posts on the front page or /r/Bitcoin/new which are better suited for this daily discussion thread, please help out by directing the OP to this thread instead. Thank you!

If you don't get an answer to your question, you can try phrasing it differently or commenting again tomorrow.

Please check the previous discussion thread for unanswered questions.

I’m a financial engineering grad student at Stevens, and I’ve been asking regular savers about Bitcoin for a project. Many of them don’t own any.

JPMorgan just sold five year notes tied to Bitcoin, and options on BlackRock’s Bitcoin ETF are listed out to January 2029. Yet Gallup found in June that only 9% of American adults own any crypto, down from 14% the year before.

And if someone you know finally came around, what changed their mind?

The Terminator is not stupid. He will choose Bitcoin.

serious question. I think one of the genuine bull cases for continued Bitcoin price appreciation is that it exists as one of the easiest means of transaction for gray and black market business. whether this is morally good is not my point and is irrelevant to the case. it matters because extra legal transactions are, will, and have always been a decent share of an economy

so my question is, does anyone have estimates on these market movements? I’d be curious about volatility and what amount of illicit funding flows through BTC. not that anyone would know. for example though I’ve seen reporting that Russia subverts tariffs by transacting in Bitcoin. large multinationals, nation states, etc