The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, announced yesterday a plan to build a complete Bitcoin City in the eastern region, specifically in the department of Usulután, one of the 14 that divide the Central American country.
Bukele’s plan is to raise USD 1 billion in bonds and use part of these resources for the development of the city that will be established as a center for digital mining. In addition, the government will not collect taxes from the residents of this new city, except for VAT, as reported by CryptoReportage hours ago.
But how did Salvadorans receive the announcement of the construction of an almost tax haven for bitcoiners, a space also focused on attracting foreign investment?
To learn about the “pulse in the street”, Iván Gómez, CriptoNoticias special envoy to El Salvador, spoke with several residents who spoke about the pros and cons of building a city that, from now on, can be seen as the city of opportunities, according to Javier, an employee of the public administration of the Central American country.
“It is a smart move by the government of El Salvador,” said Javier. He believes that the Bukele government has become a great “trader” or an investor and speculator who is betting on the rise in the price of cryptocurrency in order to make a profit. With the profits already made, he builds a veterinary hospital.
“It is true that in the Bitcoin City the government will not have tax collection by not collecting taxes, but on the other hand, in the end the issuance of bonds will be like a capital raise to continue supporting the policy of buying bitcoins that will allow you to obtain more Profits. I think the government is betting on the increase in the bitcoin price so that we Salvadorans will benefit”.
Javier, Salvadoran public employee.
He believes that, with the development of a Bitcoin City, El Salvador becomes a much more attractive country for foreign investors, something that his nation needed. “Because we lived in financial chaos, without the necessary economic income to be able to sustain different programs and projects, and that is why we were getting more and more indebted,” according to Javier.
When visualizing the Bitcoin City as it was announced, Javier assures that he would move to a city that would be like the development pole of the region, where opportunities will be generated. He believes that there will be a good quality of life, access to health, access to entertainment, and quality public transportation. “And if you have all the public services and everything that is said that the city is going to have, of course it is very attractive for everyone,” he added.
Bitcoin City, the most expensive city in El Salvador?
The also Salvadoran Juan Trejo believes that the Bitcoin City will be an exclusive territory of El Salvador. A place that, surely, will not be available to everyone, because being a tax-free territory, where there will also be opportunities for many, soon a lot of people will covet their lands. It means that whoever gets there first will catch the highest proportion of opportunities.
“This Bitcoin City thing is such a sea of opportunities that I still can’t quite digest it,” Trejo said. For him, the construction of a city focused on the first of cryptocurrencies represents economic and technological development for El Salvador.
“I see as an advantage to be able to move as soon as possible to this area where the Bitcoin City will be built, although doing so also implies an additional expense that, at least at this moment, I could not cover. But if I will consider the fact of moving to this city that would be like the capital of technology for El Salvador”.
Juan Trejo, Salvadoran.
Justice will be done with one of the most neglected areas of El Salvador
For her part, the international relationshipist Paola, told CryptoReportage that the eastern area of El Salvador, one of the most forgotten, will now have the opportunity to emerge as a prosperous territory.
“Usulutan is one of the most neglected areas at the infrastructure level. There are no big buildings there, there are hardly a couple of shopping centers, everything is very rustic. That is why I think it is very good to invest in that area since that way the economy can be boosted”.
Paola, international relations officer from El Salvador.
However, Paola is concerned about the level of public spending for the construction of a Bitcoin City that, although it may bring possibilities for economic growth, it also represents risks. “In the short term, I only see the expense and while the city is being built, how will it be done to sustain what already exists?”, The Salvadoran asked.
Meanwhile, more accurate information about what the Bitcoin City or Bitcoin City will look like has already begun to emerge. A circular city, which will have a square with a large “B” of Bitcoin carved.
