El Salvador has paid back a bond worth $800 million in debt.
On January 12, the country introduced a regulatory framework for all cryptocurrencies.
Despite the skepticism expressed by significant national and international media outlets that the “El Salvador government was in default,” President Nayib Bukele stated on his Twitter account that ‘the country fully paid the bond maturing in 2023, worth $800 million plus interest’.
In the past year, almost every legacy international news outlet said that because of our “#Bitcoin bet”, El Salvador was going to default on its debt by January 2023 (since we had an 800 million dollar bond maturing today).
What Happens with El Salvador?
After proposing El Salvador’s adoption of Bitcoin ($BTC) as legal tender with the US dollar in 2021, President Nayib Bukele has been forced to prove that the country has good fiscal status. Following that, in earlier January 2022, President Bukele proposed a cryptocurrency-based economic system, ‘Bitcoin City’. With $1 billion worth of bitcoin bonds. That includes support for digital and technological education, geothermal energy for the entire city, and safe and environmentally friendly public transit.
But El Salvador’s national debt plunged in April due to the crypto market downtrend, falling 15.1% to all-time lows. That overlapped with the collapse of his campaign to create a Bitcoin City. And the Central American country was under pressure to reduce its debt.
Now “El Salvador paid off its $800 million in debt”. Also, the country stated that after the two early purchase operations carried out in 2022, the bond’s principal and interest payments were decreased to $604.1 million and $23.4 million.
However, In November 2022, El Salvador launched El Salvador’s National Bitcoin Office (ONBTC). To monitor and direct all national Bitcoin-related activities. According to ONBTC, the country made a significant step forward in wider cryptocurrency adoption by introducing a new law. The official endorsement of a regulatory framework for all cryptocurrencies became effective on January 12, 2023.