El Salvador’s President, Nayib Bukele, has released the first glimpse of a model of Bitcoin City, which the country intends to build as the first ever dedicated cryptocurrency hub in the world. The city model showcased an enormous Bitcoin logo in the main square.
Dreams of a Tax-Free City Powered by a Breathtaking Volcano
The utopian city will be powered by geothermal energy from the Conchagua volcano. The model features a halo-esque balcony footpath that crowns the scene.
With a beautiful lookout in the volcano pic.twitter.com/mlkQ19k5AH
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) May 10, 2022
Bitcoin City will have 0% taxes for all property assets, capital profits, payroll, municipal taxes, and CO2 emissions.
Planning for Bitcoin City shows that it will be built in La Union, a small city with a population of 34,000. As this is a port city, El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele explained that the gold color of the city’s model was simply a stylistic decision by the architect, and that the actual Bitcoin city will be full blues and greens, complementing the majestic sea and colossal number of trees it rests alongside.
#Bitcoin City is coming along beautifully pic.twitter.com/A6ay8aAREW
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) May 9, 2022
Risk It for the Bitcoin Biscuit
President Bukele announced another investment into Bitcoin just yesterday, in which the country bought over $15 million’s worth of the leading crypto. Bukele celebrated the purchase as “buying the dip”. This could be a risky move, according to some experts, especially in light of the fact that the International Monetary Fund has already issued warnings to El Salvador after it became the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.
#BREAKING IMF urges El Salvador to remove Bitcoin as legal tender pic.twitter.com/QGnN5aoHMt
— AFP News Agency (@AFP) January 25, 2022
Experts worry that such large investments on a national scale are too risky due to the volatile nature of crypto, and the poverty-stricken economy of the small Latin American country. Fitch and Moody’s rating agencies have reduced El Salvador’s credit tier to “highest-risk”, while labelling El Salvador’s Bitcoin bonds as “worthless”. A number of specialists also predict that El Salvador will be unable to pay its $800 million loan due in January.
Bitcoin Drops by 20% in a Week
Bitcoin (BTC) has fallen by nearly 19% over the last week, and is now trading at $30,610, as of this writing. On May 10th, the leading crypto sank to $30,016, and has since recovered a mere $600 in value, resulting is losses of 3.60% in the last 24 hours. Overall, Bitcoin (BTC) now finds itself 55.8% down from its ATH, set half a year ago in November.