El Salvador Delays Launch Of Bitcoin Bonds, Still Waiting For The Right Time

JAKARTA – The government of El Salvador has finally postponed the issuance of bitcoin-backed bonds in an unprecedented way. The launch is planned for last week.

Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya said on Tuesday, March 22, stating that the government decided to wait for favorable conditions in financial markets.

President Nayib Bukele's government has actually scheduled the issuance of bonds amounting to USD 1 billion (IDR 14.3 trillion) between March 15-20. But the war between Russia and Ukraine and the sharp volatility of cryptocurrencies have prompted the authorities to change the launch date

The launch could be delayed until September as bitcoin has "fainted" since hitting record highs above $67.500 in early November. But the price of Bitcoin has lost almost half of its value on January 22. According to Refinitiv Eikon data, Bitcoin is now trading at USD 42.609 (IDR 611 million) last Tuesday.

According to Zelaya, now is not the right time to issue bonds. Zelaya stated that the ideal date to hit the market would be the first half of the year.

"In May or June, the market variant is slightly different. September at the latest. After September, if you go out to the international market it is difficult (to increase capital)," said Zelaya as quoted by Reuters.

During this time, El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as a legal tender, since last year. This policy has drawn criticism from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which fears it could hurt state finances.