El Salvador will issue bonds in the cryptocurrency bitcoin in the first quarter of next year and is the first country where bitcoin has become legal tender.
“Vulkan bond has just received regulatory approval from the Commission for Digital Assets (CNAD). We anticipate that the bond will be issued in the first quarter of next year,” the National Office for Bitcoin of El Salvador, which manages all projects related to cryptocurrencies, announced via a social network.
Bitcoin became legal tender in El Salvador in 2021, along with the US dollar, Fena reports.
The president of this Central American country, Nayib Bukele, tried to use bitcoin to make it easier and cheaper for Salvadorans to receive remittances and provide access to financial services for the 70 percent of people who do not have a bank account, reports the French news agency AFP.
The measure was the target of criticism in the country and abroad.
According to the results of a survey conducted in May by the University of Central America, 71 percent of residents believe that cryptocurrency has not helped improve the financial situation of their families.
The authorities of El Salvador plan to finance the construction of a bitcoin city with volcanic bonds. It would be located in the east of the country, and it would be powered by geothermal energy from a nearby volcano. Bukele revealed plans for Bitcoin City in 2021.
The city would be partially built with at least $1 billion in volcanic bonds, the Salvadoran president said at the time.
The government of El Salvador has announced that it has purchased 2,381 bitcoins. The last purchase was made in July 2022, when they bought 80 of them.
According to Bukele’s predictions, El Salvador was supposed to buy one bitcoin a day starting November 17 last year, but the government has not revealed whether it is actually sticking to the plan.
