World’s first Bitcoin bonds receive regulatory approval in El Salvador

El Salvador’s long-planned Bitcoin bonds have inched closer to reality after apparently receiving regulatory approval for an early 2024 issuance, the country’s Bitcoin-focused office posted on Tuesday.

The bonds are set to be offered on Bitfinex Securities, a regulated division of crypto exchange Bitfinex.

“The Volcano Bond has just received regulatory approval from the Digital Assets Commission (CNAD),” El Salvador’s National Bitcoin Office posted from its X handle. “We anticipate the bond will be issued during the first quarter of 2024.”

President Nayib Bukele apparently confirmed the approval on X, posting “Wen volcano bond?” early Tuesday and reposting several posts that said the bonds would be issued in Q1 2024.

The so-called “Volcano bonds” were announced in 2021 by President Nayib Bukele shortly after he passed a law recognizing bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender in the country.

Bukele’s target was to raise $1 billion via the bitcoin-backed bonds – seeding a bitcoin mining industry reliant solely on renewable energy, including that generated by the country's active volcanos.

Issuance was initially planned for March 2022 but was postponed several times. However, the digital assets bill was finally introduced in the Legislative Assembly at the end of November 2022, where Bukele's party, Nuevas Ideas, has a large majority.

The development is the second major bitcoin-focused move in as many weeks. Earlier, El Salvador kickstarted its "Freedom VISA" program, doling out residency to a maximum of 1,000 people annually who invest at least $1 million worth of bitcoin or tether (USDT) stablecoins.