Founded in 2021, My First Bitcoin began with a single class of four students. Over the next four years, it grew rapidly, teaching more than 27,000 students, creating the world’s first Bitcoin Diploma in public schools, hosting educators’ unconferences, and building a Node Network now spanning 50 projects in 27 countries.
Now, My First Bitcoin is shifting from local classrooms to a global movement. Founder John Dennehy says the focus is on empowering educators, not running programs directly.
“We want to help others succeed in their own communities and link them together,” Dennehy said in a note to Bitcoin Magazine.
The project is also embracing a fully remote structure, closing its office in El Salvador. Local meetups will now be run by independent collectives, using open-source blueprints developed by My First Bitcoin.
The organization will continue developing curricula, creating digital platforms, and fostering connections among educators worldwide.
“Our mission remains the same,” Dennehy adds. “Independent, impartial Bitcoin education gives people agency, encourages critical thought, and builds long-term freedom. Bitcoin is the tool, education is the pathway.”
The move represents a new phase for the initiative. By training teachers, sharing resources openly, and supporting community-led projects, My First Bitcoin aims to ignite a global movement. The team invites educators, organizers, and Bitcoin advocates to join the network and help expand access to knowledge everywhere.
My First Bitcoin background
Founded in August 2021 by John Dennehy, Mi Primer Bitcoin (My First Bitcoin) began as a small, community-led project in El Salvador with a mission to empower individuals through Bitcoin education. Dennehy, a soft-spoken and introspective thinker, saw education as a means to restore personal agency and sovereignty, especially in a world where people often feel powerless.
The idea took root during the COVID-19 pandemic, when Dennehy spent long walks in New York contemplating society’s challenges. Concluding that the solution lay in education, he initially traveled to Ecuador to teach friends about Bitcoin.
However, pandemic restrictions made in-person engagement difficult. Shortly afterward, Dennehy learned of El Salvador’s historic adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender and relocated there to support the country’s efforts.
Landing in El Salvador, Dennehy drafted the organization’s mission and lesson plans, recruiting both students and local teachers. He made community leadership a core principle, ensuring that all instructors were Salvadoran to better relate to students. The first class had just one attendee, held in a yoga studio, but the initiative grew steadily. By the end of the first month, five students were regularly participating.
In 2022, Dennehy and his team formalized their curriculum into the “Bitcoin Diploma” program. The diploma includes ten lessons covering monetary systems, Bitcoin fundamentals, wallets, nodes, mining, security, the Lightning Network, and Bitcoin’s future. By the end of that year, 38 high school students in El Salvador had earned their diplomas.
The organization’s impact has since expanded globally. In 2023, Mi Primer Bitcoin launched the Independent Bitcoin Educators Node Network, now encompassing over 65 projects across 35 countries. These initiatives range from circular economies to local meetups, united by six core principles: independent, impartial, community-led, Bitcoin-only, high-quality education focused on empowerment rather than profit.
In May 2025, the nonprofit received a $1 million grant from Jack Dorsey’s Start Small to scale its global efforts, including enhancing the Bitcoin Diploma, intro courses, teacher workshops, and its Online School and Community Hub.
Despite the funding, Dennehy emphasized that the nonprofit will never accept government funding and carefully vets other sources to preserve independence.