El Salvador delays its planned launch of Bitcoin bond.
El Salvador's Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya said in an interview with "Frente a Frente" (Face to Face), a local news program, that El Salvador would further delay its Bitcoin bond.
The minister cited price volatility and macro uncertainty due to the war in Ukraine, saying that the price of BTC continues to fluctuate excessively. He added that El Salvador is betting on the economic innovation in Bitcoin and expressed confidence that Bitcoin would appreciate in value in the long run.
Such confidence is necessary, considering that El Salvador diligently continues buying dips, with its latest 500 BTC purchase bringing the country's total to 2,301 BTC. However, said investments have thus far not really been paying off, and El Salvador is underwater on practically all of its purchases. The latest 500 BTC purchase came at an average price of $30,744.
El Salvador originally planned to launch its bonds in March 2022, but skeptics have already been warning that market demand may just not be there.
Problems continue to mount elsewhere too. Ratings agency Moody's downgraded the country's credit rating, citing doubts about whether El Salvador could repay an $800 million bond due in January 2023. El Salvador's Bitcoin adoption has not been going as well as the country would like the industry to believe. Research indicates that merely 4.9% of all sales in El Salvador are conducted in Bitcoin. A full 88% of businesses exchange their BTC for fiat.
Whether El Salvador actually took profit (or realized losses) on any of its BTC purchases is unclear, too. Minister Zelaya said that a part of the country's BTC was sold to fund a pet hospital while also saying the country is not selling any of its coins.
Either way, while there may be buyers for El Salvador's coins, it looks like there aren't any for its Bitcoin bond.
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