El-Salvador Ignores IMF, Set to Open Second ‘Bitcoin Embassy’ in the US ⋆ ZyCrypto

El Salvador has disclosed plans to move a step further on its bitcoin adoption plans with the set up of a new Bitcoin embassy in Texas. Milena Mayorga, the Ambassador of El Salvador to the US, made this disclosure yesterday, adding that she had met with Joe Esparza, the State Government’s Assistant Secretary, to discuss “the opening of the second Bitcoin embassy in Texas” as well as “the expansion of commercial and economic exchange projects.”

Since legalizing Bitcoin acceptance in 2021 and opening the first Bitcoin embassy last year in Lugano, Switzerland, El Salvador has continued to fire all cylinders in its quest to promote Bitcoin. Recently, the country’s president had taken to Twitter to lash out at critics predicting a possible debt default crisis moments after settling its $800 million bond debt in full despite the apex currency falling >%60 below its November 2021 all-time high.

Its antics, however, don’t appear to go down well with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). The world financial regulatory body recently sounded a note of warning in a recent visit to the state, calling for greater transparency in the nation’s Bitcoin accounting records and all transactions linked to the state-backed crypto wallet platform, Chivo, which it offers to over 6.4 million residents. IMF kicked against more Bitcoin purchases in its report on the hill of the recent $107 million splashed on the additional purchase of additional BTCs in November.

Like El Salvador, Texas has also carved a niche as one of the US’s most crypto-friendly states. The state recently proposed a comprehensive Bitcoin bill that could see an increase in state-backed Bitcoin mining, implementing mining tax incentives, a sales tax holiday and a campaign to bolster blockchain education in secondary and tertiary institutions. Governor Greg Abbott, Senator Ted Cruz and a good number of Texan lawmakers have thrown support behind the initiative.

Despite pressures from the IMF, El Salvador is not slowing down on its plans. With the passage of its recent legislation aimed at accommodating and regulating the use of non-Bitcoin digital assets within the state, President Bukele may have completed a crucial step towards the launch of the so-called “volcano bonds.” These bonds, Bukele disclosed, will provide the finance to build a Bitcoin city powered by energy from volcanoes in El Salvador. El Salvador’s total Bitcoin holding is estimated to be around 2381 BTC.