El Salvador Receives Major Investment to Develop ‘Bitcoin City’

JAKARTA - The El Salvador government has announced a massive investment of 1.62 billion US dollars (IDR 25.7 trillion) from the Turkish holding company, Yilport. This investment is intended for the development of two main ports in the country, namely the Port of Acajutla and the Port of La Union.

This step is expected to be a major driver in realizing El Salvador's ambition to build a "Bitcoin City," a tax-free zone planned to be established near one of the ports.

The announcement was made by El Salvador's President, Nayib Bukele, via a video statement on Monday. Bukele said that this investment is the largest in the country's history and will create thousands of direct and indirect jobs.

The Port of Acajutla, which currently handles most of El Salvador's coffee, sugar, and balsam salt exports, and the inactive Port of La Union, will be the main focus of this project.

The Port of La Union, which has been abandoned, will be transformed into the center of activity for the planned "Bitcoin City." The project is the result of Bukele’s visit to Turkey in 2022. The city was first introduced to the public in November 2021 as a tax-free city that would be funded through Bitcoin mining using energy from the surrounding volcanoes.

However, since then, the development of “Bitcoin City” has not been heard much, while the long-awaited fundraising effort through “Bitcoin bonds” has been delayed. However, El Salvador has found alternative funding sources, including a Bitcoin mining partnership with Tether and a “Freedom Visa” program for wealthy entrepreneurs interested in investing in the country.

According to Decrypt, Stacy Herbert, head of El Salvador’s National Bitcoin Office, confirmed that the project will bring more investment into local infrastructure. Meanwhile, her husband Max Keiser, also a member of the office, called the investment part of the infrastructure development for a “Bitcoin City.”

Against this backdrop, El Salvador appears increasingly determined to make Bitcoin an integral part of its economic strategy. While the project is still in its early stages, the large investment marks a significant step forward in realizing Bukele’s vision of making El Salvador a crypto-based financial hub in Central America.