El Salvador seems to delay its ‘volcano bonds’ launch
Considering the absence of any official announcements, El Salvador’s government seems to have delayed the launch date of the so-called “volcano bonds.” Earlier, Salvadoran Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya had been reassuring the public that the project would start by March 20.
Speaking on a local TV show on Friday, El Salvador’s finance minister once again announced that the launch of so-called “volcano bonds” should take place somewhere between March 15 and 20 — the same dates had been declared during his previous TV appearance in February. Albeit this time, Zelaya mentioned the unstable political situation in the world as one of the factors that could influence the planned timing.
The project of a coin-shaped “Bitcoin city” at the base of the Conchagua volcano was introduced by El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, in November 2021. In Bukele’s vision, the construction of this new town with the crypto mining operations and minimal taxes would be financed by the issuance of $1 billion in bonds. These bonds, which have since become famous as “Bitcoin bonds” or “volcano bonds,” are supposed to last 10 years and pay 6.5% annual interest to their holders.
In December 2021, Samson Mow, chief strategy officer of Blockstream — El Salvador’s partner in the bond launch — revealed that the platform had already received $300 million worth of “soft commitments,” mostly from “Bitfinex whales.” Responding to Cointelegraph’s request in February, Fernando Nikolić, marketing director at Blockstream, assured that the company would make an announcement regarding the matter in Q1 2022.
As the Financial Times reported, the necessary legislation to launch the bond sale still didn’t pass through the Salvadoran parliament.
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