El Salvador’s $1B Bitcoin Bond Offering Delayed: Will Wait for Favorable Market Conditions

Retail and institutional investors will have to wait further for the $1 billion Bitcoin Bonds as El Salvador has postponed its planned offering.

Amidst geopolitical turmoil, the country’s Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya said they would wait for favorable conditions in the financial market, and the hold-up be could be as late as September.

Unfavorable Market Conditions

The El Salvadorean central bank was previously scheduled to launch the long-awaited Bitcoin Bonds between March 15-20. However, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and its effects on Bitcoin’s price led the government to change its course, as per the latest report by Reuters. In an interview with a local show, Zelaya was quoted saying,

“I think this is not the time. There are some moves on the planet. 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.”

President Nayib Bukele announced the 10-year Bitcoin “volcano bond” in November last year. The $1 billion proceeds received from issuing these bonds will be directed towards backing the much-hyped “Bitcoin city,” envisioned by the Bukele himself, that will be driven by the geothermal energy of a volcano near the Honduran border.

Even as El Salvador struggles to advance use-cases for Bitcoin, it has an ambitious roadmap that includes using the funds to purchase more Bitcoin and storing them in its reserves. As reported by CryptoPotato, Zelaya even outlined plans to restructure its economy around the upcoming bonds.

The Bitcoin Effect

Nayib Bukele’s Bitcoin Law met serious opposition from policymakers around the world. Not long ago, United States Republican Senators Jim Risch and Bill Cassidy, with Democratic Senator Bob Menendez, proposed a bill to investigate the risks to the US financial system associated with El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin.

The President lashed on the interference by the bipartisan group of senators and asked them to stay out of El Salvador’s internal affairs.

Meanwhile, the Bukele administration announced the inauguration of the veterinary hospital built by BTC profits on February 26th. The President also said each treatment would cost $0.25 worth of BTC. Its Minister of Tourism revealed a significant boost in the country’s tourism sector which was up by 30% since the Bitcoin adoption.