THE RIGHT TO BE FREE: El Salvador President Nayib Bukele announced that his government will create an oceanside “Bitcoin City” at the base of a volcano in a rock concert-like setting. Bukele used a Saturday night gathering of Bitcoin enthusiasts to announce his latest idea, similar to how he used a video message at a previous Bitcoin conference in Miami to announce that El Salvador would be the first country to make the cryptocurrency legal tender. Bukele said a bond offering would take place entirely in Bitcoin in 2022. Construction would begin 60 days after the financing was finalised. The city will be erected near the Conchagua volcano in the Gulf of Fonseca to take advantage of geothermal energy to power both the city and Bitcoin mining, which is the energy-intensive day-and-night solution of complicated mathematical computations to authenticate money transactions.
Land and infrastructure will be provided by the government, and efforts will be made to attract investors.
The only tax collected will be the value-added tax, with half of it going toward municipal debts and the remainder going for infrastructure and upkeep. There would be no property, income, or municipal taxes, according to Bukele, and the city would emit no carbon dioxide.
The city would be constructed with the goal of attracting international investment. Residential neighbourhoods, malls, eateries, and a port, according to Bukele.
“Invest here and earn all the money you want,” Bukele urged as the Latin American Bitcoin and Blockchain Conference in El Salvador came to a close. Since September 7, Bitcoin has been legal money alongside the US dollar. A pilot Bitcoin mining project is already underway by the government at a geothermal power facility near the Tecapa volcano. With a $150 million fund, the government is endorsing Bitcoin. The government paid $30 in credit to Salvadorans who used the digital wallet as an incentive to utilise it. Bitcoin was designed with the intention of operating independently of government-controlled financial systems.