The biggest digital trends of 2021 have been around cryptocurrency and NFT art; as the first country to use Bitcoin as legal tender, El Salvador continues to look for ways to remain at the forefront of the cutting edge.
This month, President Nayib Bukele announced plans for a “Bitcoin city”, built in the shape of a large coin and utilizing the geothermal energy of the Conchagua volcano to power its Bitcoin mining. And though the country’s adoption of cryptocurrency has been controversial, Bukele’s ambitious plans for a city completed “devoted to Bitcoin” as its only form of currency is one that will certainly draw the attention of venture capitalists and international economists.
Bukele did not announce a timeline for the city’s opening in the southeastern region of La Unión, but estimated the cost of public infrastructure would be about 300,000 Bitcoins (or, at $60,000 per coin, approx. $1.8 trillion).
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