El Salvador to build Bitcoin city at base of volcano
The first country in the world to make bitcoin legal tender is planning to build a crypto fuelled city at the base of a volcano.
At a gathering of bitcoin enthusiasts on Saturday night El Salvador’s young, charismatic president Nayib Bukele took the opportunity to announce that a new city would be built in the south-eastern region of La Unión. The city will be circular to mimic the shape of a coin with the project financed entirely in crypto.
“Invest here and earn all the money you want,” Bukele told the cheering crowd in English at the closing of the Latin American Bitcoin and Blockchain Conference being held in El Salvador.
Bukele said there would be no property, income or municipal taxes and the city would have zero carbon dioxide emissions.
El Salvador plans to issue $1bn in tokenized US-dollar denominated 10-year bonds to finance the project. Half of the funds of the so-called “volcano bond” will be converted to Bitcoin and the other half will be used for infrastructure and Bitcoin mining powered by geothermal energy.
The new city which will be built at the base of the Conchagua volcano will take advantage of natural geothermal energy to power Bitcoin mining.
El Salvador made bitcoin legal tender forcing all businesses in the country to accept crypto currency alongside US dollars on 07 September.
The first month of the roll out was marred by protests, technical glitches and swings in the price of Bitcoin.
However, the government insists the scheme is popular with millions of citizens taking up the government issued Chivo bitcoin wallet.
Read more: El Salvador’s government picks up 420 Bitcoin amid price dip