Author: Ting, BlockTempo
After El Salvador officially listed Bitcoin as legal tender in September 2021, President Nayib Bukele actively promoted a number of Bitcoin-related policies, including developing wallets, launching an investment citizenship program in December last year, where an investment of $1 million in Bitcoin or USDT can obtain a residence visa and citizenship, and seeking to issue a $1 billion Bitcoin Volcano Bond.
Received $1.62 billion investment from Turkish company
In this context, the Salvadoran government said on the 11th that Turkish company Yilport Holding will invest $1.62 billion in two seaports in El Salvador, which is also the largest private investment in the country's history. President Bugelei also said in a video shared on Monday:
“It will be a mixed-ownership company between Yilport Holding and El Salvador that will operate the two seaports for the next 50 years.”
One of the participating ports is Acajutla, which handles most of the country’s exports of coffee, sugar, and balsamic vinegar and salt from Peru. Another is La Union, the site of the planned Bitcoin City, an inactive and neglected port.
Will Bitcoin City Recover?
It is worth mentioning that Stacy Herbert, head of the Bitcoin Office in El Salvador, retweeted Jose Valdez's tweet, which stated that Yilport Holding's investment of US$1.62 billion will create "thousands of direct and indirect jobs" and "more investment in local infrastructure."
At the same time, Stacy Herbert also hinted that Yilport Holding’s investment is of great significance to Bitcoin City:
“This agreement is of great significance for the eastern region of El Salvador, near the future Bitcoin City, and will have many positive effects.”
Max Keiser, a member of the Bitcoin Office in El Salvador, tweeted that Yilport Holding will invest in Bitcoin City and revealed that Qatar Investment is also in talks:
“El Salvador invests $1.6 billion in Bitcoin City infrastructure, the largest private investment in El Salvador’s history: $1.6 billion
Yilport Holding to invest in Pacific Port Alliance and Bitcoin City, President Bugelei’s visit to Turkey was a huge success!
According to previous reports from Dongzhong, Bitcoin City first proposed in November 2021 that the city would rely on geothermal power generation, residents would also be exempt from various taxes, and a giant Bitcoin symbol was planned to be built in the city center. However, after more than two years, Bitcoin City seems to have made no real progress. However, with Yilport Holding’s investment in ports around Bitcoin City, people’s expectations for the recovery of Bitcoin City have increased.
Daily fixed investment has accumulated BTC worth $344 million
On the other hand, Buglei announced at the end of 2022 that El Salvador would continue to buy one Bitcoin every day until it became unaffordable to buy Bitcoin with fiat currency.
In order to facilitate observation of whether El Salvador has fulfilled its commitments, the El Salvador National Bitcoin Office announced on May 13, 2024, that it would cooperate with mempool to launch a website dedicated to tracking the El Salvador government’s Bitcoin reserves. According to the website’s records, the El Salvador government has indeed implemented the policy of investing 1 Bitcoin per day. El Salvador currently holds 5840.76 BTC, worth approximately US$344 million.
