El Salvador is planning to open a second bitcoin embassy in Texas

February 24 El Salvador is planning to open a second bitcoin embassy in Texas

El Salvador’s ambassador to the United States, Milena Mayorga, announced the country’s second bitcoin embassy planned for the state of Texas. El Salvador leads the world in bitcoin adoption, and last October opened the first bitcoin embassy in Lugano, Switzerland.

El Salvador’s historic commitment to bitcoin remains steadfast

After opening its first bitcoin embassy in Lugano, Switzerland, the Central American nation of El Salvador’s ambassador to the United States, Milena Mayorga, met with Texas Deputy Secretary of State Joe Esparza last week to discuss building its second bitcoin embassy. Could , in Texas.

What do Lugano, Texas and El Salvador have in common? Strong interest in the opportunities offered by bitcoin for economic growth and financial freedom.

El Salvador, in particular, made history with a series of highly publicized announcements around the recent passage of its bitcoin legal tender law in 2021 and continues to push bitcoin initiatives both inside and outside the country. As if to polish its status as a bitcoin country, it opened a state-run bitcoin office last November as an official branch of the Salvadoran government. Its role is to drive bitcoin adoption, strategy and policy planning, and assist bitcoin businesses that wish to come to El Salvador to take advantage of the bitcoin law.

The country also recently passed a new digital securities law, which provides a regulatory framework for the issuance of crypto tokens, and creates a pathway for digital securities offerings.

Most famously, the digital securities law paved the way for El Salvador’s planned Volcanic Token, a tokenized security bond offering that harnesses the country’s geothermal energy to mine bitcoin.

Volcano Token is set to raise one billion dollars to pay off the nation’s sovereign debt and finance the construction of the planned Bitcoin City, a special economic zone that offers tax breaks for bitcoin entrepreneurs planning to establish a presence in El Salvador. and provide incentives. ,

El Salvador made headlines again last year by announcing the opening of its first bitcoin embassy in the Swiss city of Lugano. Representatives from Lugano signed a memorandum of understanding with the Central American nation, agreeing to cooperate on education and research around bitcoin adoption.

Now, in the past week, Ambassador Mayorga has announced the opening of a second bitcoin office, this time in the state of Texas, which has been a leading proponent for bitcoin and crypto friendly regulation in the US, and is the center of the US. bitcoin mining industry.

What exactly is a bitcoin embassy?

El Salvador’s two bitcoin embassies are part of its template for adoption that it is working to build, so other places that wish to adopt bitcoin can do so natively. This template is part of El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele’s larger vision for El Salvador in its role as a leader for bitcoin adoption on the global stage, and to allow other countries or jurisdictions to follow in El Salvador’s footsteps. will serve as a blueprint for

The bitcoin embassies themselves can be seen as the first bitcoin chambers of commerce, and the strategic location of these embassies in El Salvador reflects President Bukele’s forward-thinking policy, friendly regulation, and willingness to establish business ties with major financial centers. Shows interest. bitcoin adoption.

There is extensive trade between the state of Texas and El Salvador to exceed $1.2 billion by 2022. Texas is also the epicenter of the bitcoin mining industry in the United States, which has seen a huge influx of businesses looking to take advantage of it. Setting up shop in Texas following lower energy costs and China’s bitcoin mining ban in 2021.

Previously, China used to lead the global bitcoin mining industry, with ⅔ of global hash power located in the East Asian nation, until the ban was imposed. Since China’s ban went into effect, many miners have set up shop in Texas and elsewhere around the US with cheap renewable energy or waste energy that can be salvaged and reused for mining. The US now leads the world in bitcoin mining.

El Salvador is planning to invest in mining infrastructure for the Volcanic token, as well as inviting mining companies to open mining operations in the country, so the announcement of its second bitcoin embassy in Texas makes sense. It remains to be seen whether US mining companies will expand their operations to El Salvador, but the Bitcoin Embassy in Texas could inspire them in the near future.

In Lugano, El Salvador’s first bitcoin embassy was inaugurated alongside a Tether-sponsored “Plan B” conference, following the Lugano local government’s decision to adopt bitcoin, USDT and Lugano’s own LGVA token as “defacto legal tender”. Happened. Any of the three cryptocurrencies is now accepted at various businesses throughout the city, and can be used to pay for city-issued taxes, fees and fines.

The Bitcoin Embassy of El Salvador has also appointed a Salvadoran official who will work closely with representatives from Lugano to establish economic ties between El Salvador and the city of Lugano, and share insights and research to facilitate adoption globally. Will do

What do bitcoin embassies mean for bitcoin?

El Salvador’s decision to adopt bitcoin as legal tender was the first shot in a high-stakes game to disrupt the legacy financial system. Institutions such as the IMF and the World Bank, which until now enjoyed a monopoly on the delivery of multilateral financing facilities or development projects to nation states, are now being challenged for the first time by a decentralized, borderless, global digital currency such as bitcoin.

Developing nations that have had to depend on financing from these global financial institutions have sometimes found themselves at the mercy of foreign influences for their domestic economic policy, and at other times they have faced very difficult conditions to obtain financing. have to do.

President Bukele was one of the first leaders to truly understand the value proposition of bitcoin and seek to adopt it to improve the lives of the average Salvadoran citizen. The results of adoption so far have been nothing short of incredible, although they have been consistently portrayed in a negative light by much of the mainstream media.

Regardless, other countries and jurisdictions haven’t turned a blind eye to El Salvador’s bitcoin success story, which has resulted in a massive increase in tourism, an influx of bitcoin-related industry, and a reputation as a dangerous gang. There has been a complete re-branding of the country’s reputation. bin Laden, a Third World country, at the global center of a new, more equitable freedom-centered financial system based around bitcoin.

The success seen in El Salvador is even more remarkable, as it has been throughout the bear market and crypto winter of the past two years. This success has led to bitcoin adoption elsewhere, eager to duplicate the El Salvador model in their own states, nations and legal jurisdictions. El Salvador’s bitcoin embassies were created to play a key role in exporting this success around the world.

While this state-level adoption by governments is not how quickly bitcoiners had envisioned global bitcoin adoption, it certainly has taken the level of bitcoin adoption to new heights that no one thought was possible in such a short period of time. Didn’t think That being said, the question remains, is this good or bad for bitcoin?

The answer to this question depends on how you look at bitcoin.

For bitcoiners with a hard anarchist capitalist libertarian ideology who would like to see the dissolution of the state, this may not be a desired outcome.

However, from the perspective of a Salvadoran who may suffer from unequal access to financial services, bitcoin offers an attractive solution.

They now have a way to save, shop and sell online, make and accept digital payments in stores, and participate in the wider global economy. Bitcoin businesses are providing high paying job opportunities, and employing Salvadorans. Bukele’s firm hand against crime, while criticized abroad, has earned him the loyalty and devotion of millions of Salvadorians, who can now walk the streets at night without fear.

Foreigners are no longer afraid to come to El Salvador to spend their satoshis and dollars. They are eating in Salvadoran restaurants, staying in Salvadoran hotels, and drinking in Salvadoran bars. They are moving there in large numbers, buying and renting properties, and starting their own businesses and contributing to the local economy.

It’s a very welcome change, described as night and day, and none of it would have happened without bitcoin at all. So, is it good or bad? you be the judge.