El Salvador plans first 'Bitcoin City', backed by bitcoin bonds
El Salvador plans to build the world's first "Bitcoin City", funded initially by bitcoin-backed bonds, President Nayib Bukele said on Saturday, doubling down on his bet to harness the crypto currency to fuel investment in the Central American country.
Speaking at an event closing a week-long promotion of bitcoin in El Salvador, Bukele said the city planned in the eastern region of La Union would get geothermal power from a volcano and not levy any taxes except for a value added tax (VAT).
"Invest here and make all the money you want," Bukele said in English, dressed all in white and wearing a reversed baseball cap, in the beach resort of Mizata. "This is a fully ecological city that works and is energized by a volcano."
Half of the VAT levied would be used to fund the bonds issued to build the city, and the other half would pay for services such as garbage collection, Bukele said, estimating the public infrastructure would cost around 300,000 bitcoins.
El Salvador in September became the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender.
Although Bukele is a popular president, opinion polls show Salvadorans are skeptical about his love of bitcoin, and its bumpy introduction has fueled protests against the government.
Likening his plan to cities founded by Alexander the Great, Bukele said Bitcoin City would be circular, with an airport, residential and commercial areas, and feature a central plaza designed to look like a bitcoin symbol from the air.
"If you want bitcoin to spread over the world, we should build some Alexandrias," said Bukele, a tech savvy 40-year-old who in September proclaimed himself "dictator" of El Salvador on Twitter in an apparent joke.
El Salvador plans to issue the initial bonds in 2022, Bukele said, suggesting it would be in 60 days time.
Samson Mow, chief strategy officer of blockchain technology provider Blockstream, told the gathering the first 10-year issue, known as the "volcano bond", would be worth $1 billion, backed by bitcoin and carrying a coupon of 6.5%. Half of the sum would go to buying bitcoin on the market, he said. Other bonds would follow.
After a five year lock-up, El Salvador would start selling some of the bitcoin used to fund the bond to give investors an "additional coupon", Mow said, positing that the value of the cryptocurrency would continue to rise robustly.
"This is going to make El Salvador the financial center of the world," he said.
The bond would be issued on the "liquid network", a bitcoin sidechain network. To facilitate the process, El Salvador's government is working on a securities law, and the first license to operate an exchange would go to Bitfinex, Mow said.
Crypto exchange Bitfinex was listed as the book runner for the bond on a presentation behind Mow.
Once 10 such bonds were issued, $5 billion in bitcoin would be taken off the market for several years, Mow said. "And if you get 10 more countries to do these bonds, that's half of bitcoin's market cap right there."
The "game theory" on the bonds gave first issuer El Salvador an advantage, Mow argued, saying: "If bitcoin at the five-year mark reaches $1 million, which I think it will, they will sell bitcoin in two quarters and recoup that $500 million."
萨尔瓦多计划首个由比特币债券支持的“比特币城”
萨尔瓦多总统纳伊布·布克勒周六表示，萨尔瓦多计划建造世界上第一个“比特币城”，最初由比特币支持的债券提供资金，加倍下注以利用加密货币推动对中美洲国家的投资。
在萨尔瓦多为期一周的比特币推广活动结束时，Bukele 表示，该城市计划位于拉乌尼翁东部地区，将从火山中获取地热能，除了增值税 (VAT) 外，不征收任何税款。
“在这里投资，赚你想要的所有钱，”布克尔在米座海滩度假胜地用英语说，他一身白衣，头戴棒球帽。 “这是一座完全生态的城市，由火山激发并运转。”
Bukele 说，征收的增值税的一半将用于资助为建设这座城市而发行的债券，另一半将用于支付垃圾收集等服务，估计公共基础设施将耗资 300,000 比特币左右。
萨尔瓦多于 9 月成为世界上第一个采用比特币作为法定货币的国家。
尽管 Bukele 是一位受欢迎的总统，但民意调查显示，萨尔瓦多人对他对比特币的热爱持怀疑态度，而比特币的推出却引发了对政府的抗议。
Bukele 将他的计划比作亚历山大大帝创立的城市，他说比特币城将是圆形的，有机场、住宅和商业区，并设有一个中央广场，从空中看起来就像比特币的象征。
“如果你想让比特币在全世界传播，我们应该建造一些亚历山大港，”40 岁的精通技术的 Bukele 说，他于 9 月在 Twitter 上以一个明显的玩笑宣布自己是萨尔瓦多的“独裁者”。
Bukele 表示，萨尔瓦多计划在 2022 年发行首批债券，这表明将在 60 天后发行。
区块链技术提供商 Blockstream 的首席战略官 Samson Mow 告诉聚会，第一个 10 年期的债券，被称为“火山债券”，价值 10 亿美元，由比特币支持，票面利率为 6.5%。他说，其中一半将用于在市场上购买比特币。其他债券将随之而来。
Mow 表示，经过五年的锁定，萨尔瓦多将开始出售一些用于为债券提供资金的比特币，为投资者提供“额外的优惠券”，并假设加密货币的价值将继续强劲上涨。
“这将使萨尔瓦多成为世界金融中心，”他说。
该债券将在比特币侧链网络“流动网络”上发行。 Mow 说，为了促进这一进程，萨尔瓦多政府正在制定一项证券法，第一个运营交易所的许可证将授予 Bitfinex。
加密货币交易所 Bitfinex 在 Mow 背后的演讲中被列为该债券的簿记员。
Mow 说，一旦发行了 10 个这样的债券，50 亿美元的比特币将在几年内从市场上撤出。 “如果你再让 10 个国家发行这些债券，那么比特币市值的一半就在那里。”
债券的“博弈论”给了第一发行人萨尔瓦多一个优势，莫争辩说：“如果比特币在五年大关达到 100 万美元，我认为会的，他们将在两个季度内出售比特币并收回5 亿美元。”
