a lot of me wishes harris had won, because this would have happened a lot sooner and harder
we're going to the same place regardless (the things they can't take ie bitcoin and nostr) but it would have been a quicker journey i feel
setting aside the scammery etc, its so interesting how these visual conventions / patterns evolve. its not even like a new language, its more a new communication protocol.
the world in 100 years will be completely incomprehensible to anyone living now
## Preface
2024 was the second full year [BTC Map](https://btcmap.org). The first attempts to build a map of Bitcoin merchants were observed more than a decade ago, but the first wave or merchant adoption faded away due to on-chain settlement limitations. Late 2022 was the year when Lightning started to shine and it felt like Bitcoin was ready for retail adoption. It turned out we weren't wrong about that! BTC Map continues to have a steady growth rates, powered by the mighty Lightning Network.
## Global Metrics: Total Merchant Count
The total number of bitcoin accepting merchants is 40% higher than it was in the beginning of 2024. We started this year with 9,727 merchants on the map, and we increased this to 13,673 merchants by the end of 2024.
)
## Global Metrics: Up-to-date Merchant Count
We care deeply about data quality and so every merchant is supposed to be re-verified at least once a year. The number of freshly verified merchants has increased from 6,250 to 7,807, which is 25% higher than it was in the beginning of 2024.
)
We're aiming to re-verify the other 5,866 merchants, but we can only do that if we get some help from the local communities. After all, the data is _theirs_ (_yours!_), not _ours_. The best way to help us is to [re-verify some outdated locations](https://btcmap.org/map?outdated) in your area.
## Trending Countries
1. [Brazil](https://btcmap.org/country/br) - 1,873 changes
2. [United States](https://btcmap.org/country/us) - 1,745 changes
3. [Czechia](https://btcmap.org/country/cz) - 1,644 changes
4. [Italy](https://btcmap.org/country/it) - 1,567 changes
5. [El Salvador](https://btcmap.org/country/sv) - 1,043 changes
6. [Netherlands](https://btcmap.org/country/sv) - 985 changes
7. [Germany](https://btcmap.org/country/de) - 685 changes
8. [South Africa](https://btcmap.org/country/za) - 740 changes
9. [Portugal](https://btcmap.org/country/pt) - 580 changes
10. [Georgia](https://btcmap.org/country/za) - 648 changes
I want to give a huge thanks to [Rockedf](https://www.openstreetmap.org/user/Rockedf) for consistently contributing to almost every region!
## Trending Communities
1. [Jednadvacet Praha](https://btcmap.org/community/jednadvacet-praha) - 682 changes
2. [Bitcoin Association Switzerland](https://btcmap.org/community/bitcoin-association-switzerland) - 566 changes
3. [Mi Primer Bitcoin](https://btcmap.org/community/mi-primer-bitcoin) - 414 changes
4. [FREE Madeira](https://btcmap.org/community/free-madeira) - 350 changes
5. [Vancouver Bitcoiners](https://btcmap.org/community/vancouver-bitcoiners) - 319 changes
6. [Bitcoin Bulgaria](https://btcmap.org/community/bitcoin-bulgaria) - 272 changes
7. [Arnhem Bitcoin City](https://btcmap.org/community/arnhem-bitcoin-city) - 258 changes
8. [Bitcoin é aqui! Rolante/Riozinho-RS-BRASIL](https://btcmap.org/community/bitcoin-e-aqui) - 261 changes
9. [Bitcoin Island Philippines](https://btcmap.org/community/bitcoin-island-philippines) - 205 changes
10. [Porto Alegre Bitcoin](https://btcmap.org/community/porto-alegre-bitcoin) - 210 changes
## Key Goals for 2025
- Re-verify more merchants (we need your help!)
- Finish community admin app and onboard more local admins ([Nathan](nostr:npub1cn670f663n3ks02jnnlsvd5y88zjnefy8343ykaxs7y3nzzketrsrjwt8a) is working on that)
- Clean up our community database, remove the stale records and make sure none of our communities are shitcoining (we're hoping that the local admins will help us with that)
- Improve Android app by switching to vector tiles and fixing some UI and performance issues (Igor is working on that)
- Find someone to maintain our Web and iOS apps (if you're a dev, we need you help!)
- Automate merchant review process
- Implement more lightweight web interface for the users who doesn't need local caches and offline mode. It should be powered by a special API optimized for this use case (I'll probably work on that, but any help would be appreciated)
- Improve backend performance and fix some known bugs and bottlenecks
- Visit more places and spend more sats on BTC Map =) (we'll keep doing that and we need your help!)
## Conclusion
We're satisfied with our performance in 2024, and think the future looks bright. We're pleased to see more local communities spawning and the growing public awareness. Some popular Lightning wallets have also integrated BTC Map and we expect more to follow their lead. As Lightning Network continues to mature, it also gets much easier for merchants to accept sats. We expect a healthy growth rate in 2025!
I discovered this brilliant resource in 2024 and had a few great trips and experiences just following where it led me :)
Looking forward to using it heavily in 2025 to meet more of my bitcoin family..
Thanks so much to everyone involved for their work on this, it's really building our future
what have I missed?!?
As I think clive james (australian) once said: the problem with australia is not that so many people are descended from convicts, but that so many people are descended from prison guards.
Plus remember that one time when police hunted down 3 teenagers who had escaped from covid camp?
Novak Djokovic thinks the Australian authorities poisoned his food while they held him in detention for being unvaccinated.
Novak Djokovic claims he discovered "really high" levels of heavy metals in his system after returning to Serbia following his deportation from Melbourne in 2022. He alleges the contamination came from food served at Melbourne's Park Hotel, where he was held during his visa cancellation ordeal ahead of that year's Australian Open.
https://www.gq.com/story/novak-djokovic-conquered-tennis-whats-next
That is amazing. Australia is a fascist hellhole
"right now"??
otherwise, yeah
censorship
just need to think about it
but how long can they keep him locked up? as soon as he's out presumably he leaves the country
GM
also spend sats to really be part of this thing of ours
Yeah but also most of the "humanity" i see around me wanted to lock me in my house, force me to wear a ludicrous mask and inject me with an insane genetic agent that literally goes everywhere in your body and reprograms your cells to make an antigen thats also a toxin.
So maybe I let them do what they want and I will do what I want
Yep if anything its worse to be persecuted by a majority of your peers than by a tyrant
nobody can really leave
because everyone will be here sooner or later - there'll be nowhere else to go
