El Salvador has obtained approval to issue Bitcoin-backed bonds (BTC) via Bitfinex Securities, scheduled for the first quarter of 2024. The initiative, dubbed “Volcano bonds”, was approved by the National Commission of Digital Assets (CNAD) 2 years after Nayib Bukele first mentioned it.
First Bitcoin-backed bonds to land in El Salvador
The National Commission of Digital Assets (CNAD), the government institution responsible for overseeing El Salvador’s digital assets landscape, has given the green light for the country to issue Bitcoin (BTC)-based bonds.
The news was announced on X by The Bitcoin Office, the Salvadoran body in charge of investments and anything remotely related to Bitcoin in the country:
BREAKING NEWS
The Volcano Bond has just received regulatory approval from the Digital Assets Commission (CNAD).
We anticipate the bond will be issued during the first quarter of 2024.
This is just the beginning for new capital markets on Bitcoin in El Salvador.
– The Bitcoin Office (@bitcoinofficesv) December 12, 2023
El Salvador’s Bitcoin bonds are expected to be offered via Bitfinex Securities, a regulated branch of crypto exchange Bitfinex present in the Latin American country and Kazakhstan. According to the Bitcoin Office release, the bonds will be available during the first quarter of 2024.
Nayib Bukele, who recently resigned from the presidential seat to prepare for his 2024 re-election, issued a humorous X on the subject:
Wen volcano bond?
– Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) December 12, 2023
It was Nayib Bukele himself who first announced the “Volcano bonds” 2 years ago, shortly after El Salvador had adopted Bitcoin as legal tender in the territory.
Last November, when the country’s Minister of the Economy presented a draft law on digital assets, we learned that these Bitcoin-backed government bonds had a double advantage: firstly, El Salvador hopes to raise at least $1 billion with them, equivalent to 4% of the country’s GDP as of November 2022.
Secondly, the country sees these bonds as a way of increasing the quantity of Bitcoins in its coffers. El Salvador currently holds around 2,770 Bitcoins, equivalent to $115.6 million at the current BTC rate.
These Volcano bonds are expected to have a 10-year lifespan and offer an annual return of 6.5% to their holders.
Salvador multiplies initiatives in favor of BTC
El Salvador recently made news by announcing the “Adopting El Salvador Freedom Visa Program”, a collaboration between the country and Tether, the American giant responsible for issuing USDT, the world’s most capitalized stablecoin, to offer 1,000 citizenship visas to individuals willing to invest $1 million in the form of Bitcoin or USDT.
As a result, all those potentially interested in the offer and able to pay this significant amount will be eligible for Salvadoran nationality.
Earlier this year, El Salvador also announced the launch of a program aimed at educating school teachers about Bitcoin, and therefore by extension students too. Offered online, this innovation teaches citizens how to send and receive BTC
