El Salvador’s government has begun offering state-sponsored training programs for Lightning Network and Bitcoin (BTC) developers. 54 pupils have “made the grade” in the first course, according to the National Bitcoin Office (ONBTC), a government agency answerable to President Nayib Bukele. The curriculum will begin with a preliminary phase that lasts through the end of June and includes economics, monetary history, theory, and other relevant subjects. The ONBTC also said that an in-person presentation by Saifedean Ammous, an economist and author of multiple books on BTC, will be the centerpiece of the preparation phase.
After the first round of preparation, the program will proceed to a rigorous two-week in-person coding boot camp in early July, followed by an eight-month mentoring period. The CUBO+ course, which is intended for university students in El Salvador, was initially introduced in March of this year. To encourage the courses, the government said that it would provide credit and placement to anyone who met the requirements for an initial fellowship. The USDT stablecoin’s creator, Tether, and Fulgur Ventures, an investment firm that specializes in BTC and the Lightning Network, are supporting the courses.
According to the ONBTC, the program’s goal is greatness and nothing less, and it further said that “Bitcoin is for everyone, and we will prove that.” President Bukele praised the adoption of Bitcoin as legal cash by El Salvador, the first nation to do so, as a way to promote financial inclusion and the nation’s economic growth.
