El Salvador again delays the issuance of the first bond backed by bitcoins until the end of the year

September 7 marks one year since El Salvador became the first to adopt bitcoin as its official currency. Almost 365 days later, the project promoted by President Nayib Bukele has not come to the fore. On the contrary, it is only serving to sink the Salvadoran economy. The latest example of this announced failure is that the first issue of bonds backed by this cryptocurrency is again delayed until the end of the year.

Bukele’s idea was to launch the first issue of bonds backed by this cryptocurrency to raise at least 1,000 million dollars and not have to resort to international lenders to pay his debt. The plan was for the broadcast to take place at the beginning of last year and then in March, but the government of El Salvador has been delaying it. However, some experts point out that the real reason would have been the lack of interest on the part of foreign investors.

Now, the launch is expected to happen before the end of 2022, Paolo Ardonio, CTO of Bitfinex and Tether, has told Fortune. Bitfinex is one of the largest platforms for cryptocurrency trading and was chosen by the Government of El Salvador as the technology provider in charge of the country’s bitcoin exchange.

In addition to the possible lack of interest from international investors and the drop in the price of bitcoin, another reason that could have led to this new postponement is that the Salvadoran Congress has not yet given the green light to the digital securities bill, which It was going to provide a regulatory framework for the issuance of bonds backed by bitcoins. According to Ardonio, the chances that the regulations will be approved soon “are high.”

With each new delay, experts see it less likely that the issue will take place, as well as that the country will be able to meet its debt. At the end of December 2021, its debt stood at 24.4 billion dollars, of which it has to pay 329 million dollars in interest on its international bonds this year and another 800 million dollars in a bond that matures in January 2023. .

Last July, the government of President Nayib Bukele announced the launch of a 475 million dollar program for the “advance purchase of bonds” that expire in 2023 and 2025, according to what was published by Agencia Efe.