On Friday, March 11, El Salvador’s finance minister, Alejandro Zelaya, said on local television that the country is attempting to determine the best time to debut its Bitcoin-backed bond.
Speaking on the Salvadoran TV show “Frente a Frente,” Zelaya noted the launch might take place in the Central American country between March 15 and March 20.
Zelaya stated:
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“We are still finishing some details, it’s almost all ready. It’s a matter of timing also. It’s not so simple… This is a question of timing watching the market, we believe between March 15-20 the timing is adequate.”
Discussing the financial markets and the current geopolitical situation affecting them the finance minister acknowledged that it is very difficult to find an acceptable moment to launch the Bitcoin-backed bond. Zelaya referred to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, stating that one could not have expected this a few months ago, and so timing is never simple.
He added:
“There are many things from the international context we must keep watching and the omission is one of those aspects.”
President Bukele announced the Bitcoin bond in November
The President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, first announced the Bitcoin bond back in November, saying that half of the $1 billion collected would go toward building energy and Bitcoin mining infrastructure, while the other half would go toward increasing El Salvador’s crypto assets.
In particular, the proceeds going toward the purchase of additional cryptocurrencies and the construction of “Bitcoin City,” a planned metropolis that would use geothermal energy from a nearby volcano to “mine” the digital asset.
Volcanic energy ushers in clean mining for the asset that has perennially been hit with negative press around its carbon footprint.
Previously, Zelaya, stated the use of Liquid would let investors participate in the transaction with as little as $100.
“Bonds will comply with all financial market regulations,” he added. “All [know-your-customer] requirements will be met, all due diligence will be done.”
Notably, El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender in 2021, although as of January 14 only 27% of the country’s population trusts the digital asset.
