This week on the Think Bitcoin Podcast, I sat down with Sal Pineda. Sal is a researcher, writer, and former diplomat who grew up in the shadow of El Salvador’s civil war. His personal story is marked by violence, displacement, and survival. His father was kidnapped and tortured during the conflict, his family fled, and he eventually became a U.S. citizen. That background informs his work on transitional justice and why he believes Bitcoin introduces a missing fifth pillar in the transitional justice framework: economic stability.
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Sal’s journey took him from Georgetown to the private sector, from policy circles to advising on remittances and global capital allocation. But now he’s focusing his considerable talent and energy on Bitcoin:
“I am done allocating time and energy to non-Bitcoin related things. That’s a leap of faith, hope, conviction.”
Transitional Justice and the Four Pillars
Sal’s academic work examines the traditional four pillars of transitional justice: truth-telling, criminal prosecutions, reparations, and institutional reforms. But in his analysis, these are all deeply undermined and compromised by economic instability.
“Trying to achieve truth-telling, prosecutions, reparations, reforms — each one of those is hampered and made much more complicated by economic instability, by endemic poverty. It’s very hard to just snap your fingers post-conflict and say everybody has wages they can live on.”
Without a foundation of economic security, the cycle of violence and corruption often repeats.
Bitcoin as the Fifth Pillar
This is where Bitcoin enters the frame. Sal argues that sound money can act as foundational infrastructure in post-conflict societies. It neutralizes the state’s ability to print not just wealth but also violence:
“If you can print money, you can print violence. I lived the kinetic reality of that. With Bitcoin, you bring light to the darkness of fiat and the incentives of a broken system.”
Bitcoin, he suggests, doesn’t just serve individuals. It also creates the conditions for societies to rebuild trust.
“In post-conflict societies where trust in legacy systems has been shattered, Bitcoin offers something powerful: mathematical certainty in an age of uncertainty.”
A Personal Connection
Sal’s perspective isn’t just theoretical. His father’s kidnapping during the war, his family’s flight, and the insecurity of fiat systems gave him firsthand experience of how property, savings, and stability can vanish overnight.
“What do you think happens to your house, your car, your money in the bank when the state is against you? You pour your life’s effort into it — and it’s gone. That’s what connected within my soul when I found Bitcoin.”
Looking Ahead
Our conversation also touched on the growing political impact of Bitcoin in the U.S., the unique coalition of voters it’s creating, and the resistance Sal has faced in academic and policy spaces for bringing Bitcoin into the transitional justice discourse.
This is an episode that cuts across history, politics, and economic. And it grounds Bitcoin not just as an investment, but as a civilizational tool.
Further Reading
Sal Pineda’s Paper — Leveraging Bitcoin to Rebuild Economies and Strengthen Justice After Conflict
Sal on Twitter/X — @Sal_Pineda1
Logan on Twitter/X — @TheWhyOfFI
Think Bitcoin on Twitter/X — @thinkbitcoinpod
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See you next time,
Logan