El Salvador Has $500M in Commitments for its Bitcoin Bond

According to reports, the Central American nation may already be halfway to hitting its billion-dollar target in Bitcoin bonds.

Speaking to the Wall Street Journal, Blockstream’s Samson Mow, who is backing the effort with technology support, said that the Bitcoin (BTC) bonds have already got $500 million in “verbal commitments.”

The half a billion-dollar figure was not confirmed by the outlet or the government but had been reported elsewhere on Feb. 23.

Bitcoin Bond Demand

The Bitcoin bond was introduced in November as a way to raise funds to purchase more of the asset for El Salvador’s treasury, invest in mining hardware, and develop a Bitcoin City near the Conchagua volcano in the country’s southeast.

One financial executive in El Salvador told the WSJ that the investment was not about fundamentals but was more of a ‘meme’ bond and people were interested in its novelty.

Mow added that the country will have no problems raising the $1 billion for the bonds, and President Nayib Bukele is also considering raising the target to $5 billion in the future.

However, there has been some pushback to Bukele’s Bitcoin drive, largely from the United States. Earlier this month, the enigmatic President berated the ‘boomers’ in the U.S. Senate for proposing a bill to mitigate the risks of the country’s adoption of BTC as legal tender.

On Feb. 24, he announced the launch of “Chivo Pets,” the first public veterinary hospital in El Salvador funded by Bitcoin.

Tonight, at 8 pm (CT), we’ll launch @chivopets, the first public veterinary hospital in El Salvador.

It will be broadcasted on Facebook Live: https://t.co/9YLWpsEM8d
Twitter: @nayibbukele
TikTok Live: @nayibbukele
And on television and cable: on channel 10.

🐶🐱#Bitcoin pic.twitter.com/LCutFsRJGk

— Nayib Bukele 🇸🇻 (@nayibbukele) February 23, 2022

El Salvador Tourism Up

On Feb. 22, it was reported that since the country adopted Bitcoin as a currency in September, tourism has increased by 30%.

According to the Minister of Tourism, Morena Valdez, expectations of recovery in the sector have been exceeded. Around 1.4 million visitors have been recorded, up from the projected 1.1 million visitors.

“We did a poll to check the activity according to the before and after of Bitcoin. The tourism sector increased in November and December. This increased by more than 30%.”

She added that the implementation of Bitcoin has been a strategy that has attracted the attention of foreign tourists, 60% of which came from the United States.

La titular del @MITURElSalvador, @MorenaValdezSV, informa que El Salvador superó las proyecciones en turismo, alcanzando los 1.4 millones de visitantes y las $1,462 millones en divisas.

Según la Ministra, el 60% de los visitantes provino de Estados Unidos. pic.twitter.com/UzTjB1hsKs

— Noticiero El Salvador 🇸🇻 (@NoticieroSLV) February 21, 2022

As reported by FXEmpire, Mexico may soon follow with the legalization of Bitcoin as legal tender if a proposed bill passes.