PANews reported on August 12 that according to Decrypt, El Salvador is receiving huge infrastructure investments, which are expected to support the construction of its ambitious "Bitcoin City". The Salvadoran government said on Sunday that Turkish holding company Yilport will invest $1.62 billion in two seaports in El Salvador, the largest private investment in the country's history. Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele said in a video statement released on Monday that "this will be a mixed-ownership company between Yilport and El Salvador that will operate the two seaports for the next 50 years." The agreement is the result of Bukele's visit to Turkey in 2022.
One of the two ports is the Acajutla seaport, which handles most of El Salvador's exports of coffee, sugar and Peruvian balsamic vinegar and salt. The other is the La Union seaport, an idle and neglected seaport that is the site of the planned Bitcoin City. Stacy Herbert, head of the El Salvador National Bitcoin Office, retweeted a statement saying the project would create "thousands of direct and indirect jobs" and "invest more in local infrastructure."
Bitcoin City was first proposed in November 2021 as a tax-free city that would be funded by Bitcoin mining provided by a local volcano rather than the civilian power grid. In May 2022, the president shared a potential architectural model of the city, but little has been heard about the project since then. The city was supposed to raise funds through El Salvador’s long-awaited “Bitcoin bonds,” but fundraising has been delayed multiple times. The country has found other sources of funding, though, including a renewable Bitcoin mining partnership with Tether and a “freedom visa” program for wealthy Bitcoin users.
