We used to have confidence in institutions to make sense of our money. But now after more than a decade full of debt related austerity, sanctions, capital controls and bank runs – not only individuals are disoriented with the Global Financial System, but nation states are too. The narrative goes all over the world; US, Canada, China, Russia, Ukraine, Greece, Cyprus and Argentina, but currently the country at the heart of it is El Salvador. El Salvador is the first country to confront our financial and political leaders with the uncomfortable truth – that there is a new player in the world of public debt lending, Bitcoin. Many individuals globally have found Bitcoin as a lifeboat – but the government of El Salvador headed by President Nayib Bukele is the first to test it on a nation state level by making it legal tender and with the issuance of bitcoin backed Volcano Bonds.
Bond to Unbind is an experimental documentary that explores the USD relationship with El Salvador and the role this has had in creating the Bitcoin Law and the world’s first Volcano Bond. The film is a timestamp. Two weeks in El Salvador documenting the local reality of the bitcoin law, two months after making bitcoin legal tender. The film reveals the faces that make the Salvadoran new generation; community organisers, farmers, doctors, journalists, artists, politicians and lawyers, exploring how the recent economic changes are perceived.