Exchange Bitfinex announced on Thursday (14) that it will donate 36 Bitcoins (BTC) and $600,000 Tether tokens (USDT) to help small businesses and communities in El Salvador. The value corresponds to US$ 1.3 million, or R$ 7.2 million at the current price. According to the announcement, the donation is part of the ongoing support provided by Bitfinex to the country since the adoption of Ley Bitcoin in September 2021. The company will distribute the funds directly to communities, with local support. In this regard, Bitfinex works together with Max Keiser and Stacy Herbert, BTC enthusiasts and content creators who live in El Salvador. The distributions will focus on cities where street gangs have been accused of extorting money from companies.
Money for needy communities
At least three risk communities will receive the funds right away: Ilopango, Soyapango and Apopa, in which there is a wide variety of projects and initiatives. Among the ventures supported by the grants are green business initiatives that employ young people. The main projects supported are of an environmental nature, such as reducing pollution in Lake Ilopango and cleaning up garbage in Apopa. There is no intermediary or institution behind the donations. Bitfinex will make all BTC donations direct to the wallets of companies and communities. The same goes for USDT. Any device can receive the donations, including the Chivo wallets that the government of El Salvador made available to everyone when BTC became the country’s official currency. “This funding demonstrates in real time the potential of Bitcoin to bring prosperity and economic freedom,” said Paolo Ardoino, CTO at Bitfinex. “By providing Bitcoin and Tether to local communities in El Salvador, we will provide vital support to small businesses, while also combating the effects of gang violence that has spread across the country.” El Salvador made BTC legal tender and has since gained community attention and hosted major events. In addition, the country has also implemented mass use of technologies such as the Lightning Network through the Chivo wallet. As a result, large corporations like McDonalds and Starbucks have implemented Lightning to receive payments in BTC. Even Brazilians have visited the country to see firsthand how cryptocurrency adoption works there.
Volcano bonds
The donations made available by Bitfinex reinforce the partnership between the exchange and EL Salvador, which began after the law was passed. In this sense, Bitfinex also provides financial technology for the issuance of the well-known Bitcoin Bonds, worth US$1 billion. The government of El Salvador had planned to launch the bonds later this year, but the market slump led to the suspension of the launch. However, Bitfinex is still working together with the government of Nayib Bukele to make the launch possible. Finally, iFinex Inc., the parent company of Bitfinex, is collaborating with the Government of El Salvador to create a regulatory framework for digital assets and securities to issue and operate digitized financial instruments in El Salvador, as well as assist in the creation and implementation of legislation and balanced regulation of cryptocurrencies on digital financial instruments in the country. Also read: OKX wins license to operate in Dubai Also read: Bit2Me reaches agreement to absorb affected 2gether users