El Salvador's huge gamble with their Bitcoin city might finally be paying off?

El Salvador took a huge gamble by investing a hefty sum of money into its Bitcoin city project. This city will be entirely dedicated to cryptocurrencies, with tax advantages and modern infrastructure to attract investors from around the world. With nearly 1.6 billion dollars thrown into this project, it seems that the country has made little to no progress on its Bitcoin city project over the past two years? Could the recent rise in Bitcoin price be the break El Savador is looking for to bring its Bitcoin city project into fruition.

El Salvador launching a new program for government employees

Just recently, the country just launched a training program for public servants to impart knowledge about the strategic management and public policies around Bitcoin. The training will stretch over the span of 160 hours, with the course divided into seven modules, each detailing several concepts, laws, skills and management related to the use of Bitcoin as legal tender.

The director of the National Bitcoin Office (ONBTC), Stacy Herbert believes that training civil servants will have a compounding effect on El Salvador's Bitcoin-driven economy. The curriculum of the training was also designed specifically to strengthen the standard of excellence in government and public administration in El Salvador.

Little Progress made, but hopes are high

Two years after El Salvador announced their plan for a Bitcoin City, what have they achieved thus far? How has the country's Bitcoin investment turned out after all this time? So far, from what we know from the little information that was released on the project is that the main city itself still hasn't broken ground. This could be due to the rapid drop in the price of Bitcoin between 2021 to 2022, which unfortunately is the same time when plans for the project were unveiled.

The country has also started to build Bitcoin City airport back in March 2023. The ONBTC also given approval to the Volcano Bond project and scheduled it to launch in the first quarter of 2024. But till date, there is still no news about when the project will be carried out.

But despite all these setbacks and uncertainty, there seems to be a glimmer of hope for the country's Bitcoin dream. Following the price of Bitcoin reaching an all time high over the past few months, it may mean that all the cryptocurrency that El Salvador has been mining and saving up all this time has started to turn into a significant unrealised profit. As of July 2024, the value of the country's Bitcoin reserves are not at least worth $55 million more compared to their initial price.

Argentina collaborating and learning from El Savador

The success of El Salvador's plan with bitcoin has also caught the attention of neighbouring countries. In May, the government of Argentina began working with El Salvador to learn from its experience of Bitcoin adoption and other cryptocurrency activities.

Argentina's security regulator, the National Securities Commission, also met with El Salvador's National Commission of Digital Assets to discuss crypto adoption and regulation in the two countries.

What does the future hold for the country?

It is undeniable that El Salvador took a huge leap of faith with this Bitcoin investment. With Bukele recently being re-elected again as president back in Febuary 2024, it is safe to say that El Salvador will continue down on its plans to build its Bitcoin city in the coming years. With the country now turning a profit on their investments, we can expect to hear more news about Bitcoin city project. As for whether it will be completed or not in the near future, only time will tell.