March 23, 2020
By Anjali Kochhar
El Salvador has postponed its planned $1 billion Bitcoin bond offering to as late as September, Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya said Tuesday on Salvadoran TV show “Frente a Frente.”
The launch was supposed to take place between March 15 and March 20 but the Russia-Ukraine war and its impact on the price of Bitcoin has caused the government to change the date, according to a Reuters report.
“I think this is not the time. There are some moves on the planet,” Zelaya said, adding that he prefers the issuance to take place between March and April. “In May and June sometimes you can, but the market variables get different. After September, it is difficult to raise, unless you are previously funded, as in the case of bitcoin bond,” he added.
The finance minister said that the bond will be issued not by the government but by the state-owned thermal energy company La Geo and will have a sovereign guarantee provided by the Salvadoran state.
Last year, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele announced plans to build a “Bitcoin City” i.e. a planned metropolis that would use geothermal energy from a nearby volcano to mine the digital coins.
El Salvador is one of the first countries to make Bitcoin a legal tender. Following the move, many countries globally have joined the race. The Swiss city of Lugano has also recently made Bitcoin and Tether a legal tender.
About the author
Anjali Kochhar covers cryptocurrency stories in India as well as globally. Having been in the field of media and journalism for over three years now, she has developed a sharp news sense and works hard to present information that goes beyond the obvious. She is an avid reader and loves writing on a wide range of subjects.
