44 Countries to Meet in El Salvador to Discuss Bitcoin, Other Things
Coinspeaker
44 Countries to Meet in El Salvador to Discuss Bitcoin, Other Things
El Salvador president Nayib Bukele recently announced on Twitter that representatives from 44 countries will meet in El Salvador to discuss Bitcoin (BTC). The president of the Central American nation also added that other financial topics were on the agenda for discussion. According to Bukele, an avowed BTC devotee, “tomorrow, 32 central banks and 12 financial authorities (44 countries) will meet in El Salvador to discuss financial inclusion, digital economy, banking the unbanked, the #Bitcoin rollout and its benefits in our country.”
Details on the Bitcoin Meet
The listed central banks for Monday’s meeting are majorly from developing countries in Africa, South America, and South Asia. They include Nigeria, Egypt, Nepal, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Paraguay, Angola, Guinea, Madagascar, and the Dominican Republic.
Bukele listed out all the participants scheduled for the Bitcoin meet in El Salvador on his Twitter page. The president’s tweets come a day after Twitter account “Bitcoin Beach” first foreshadowed the financial meeting. The message, which seemed to sign off with a humorous undertone, read:
“Central bankers from Angola, Armenia, Bangladesh, Burundi, Congo, Costa Rica, Egypt, Gambia, Ghana, India, Nambia, Senegal, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia and 25 other developing countries are getting on planes today to fly to #ElSalvador – Don’t worry @IMFNews– it is probably nothing.”
In addition, Bitcoin Beach also tweeted an image of the map of the world, with some countries colored in. The colored countries are those who have already adopted BTC, or are attending the meeting in El Salvador on Monday.
El Salvador & Bitcoin
Last September, El Salvador became the first country to officially recognize Bitcoin as a legal tender. Since then, the Central American nation has undertaken several strategic developments to further entrench Bitcoin in its financial tapestry, including buying more during dips to increase its federal cache.
Shortly after adopting Bitcoin as legal tender, El Salvador hinted at mining BTC from volcanoes. Furthermore, the country is also seeking to establish a dedicated “Bitcoin City” around such volcanoes for operational convenience.
For its BTC city initiative, El Salvador attempted to generate funds by issuing tokenized Bitcoin bonds. The plan was to channel half of the raised sum, around $1 billion, towards infrastructure for the Bitcoin city. El Salvador also planned to spend the other half on purchasing more BTC. However, in March this year, the country announced that it was suspending the launch of its $1 billion Bitcoin bond to a later time. According to Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya, El Salvador is waiting for favorable market conditions.
US lawmakers expressed support for BTC adoption in El Salvador in March. However, barely two weeks later, the US House of Representatives suggested that the Salvadoran government’s adoption of BTC poses risks to America’s financial system.
44 Countries to Meet in El Salvador to Discuss Bitcoin, Other Things