- El Salvador was the first country to pass Bitcoin as a legal tender.
- El Salvador‘s Legislative Assembly established a framework for the country to issue Bitcoin-backed bonds.
- Bitfinex is the first international crypto exchange to be approved under El Salvador’s new Digital Assets Issuance Law.
Bitfinex Securities El Salvador, the Bitfinex branch in El Salvador, has become the world’s first international cryptocurrency exchange to receive approval and get licensed as a Digital Asset Service Provider under El Salvador’s ground-breaking new Digital Assets Issuance Law (“Ley de Emisión de Activos Digitales”).
Bitfinex received the new license from El Salvador’s National Digital Asset Commission and it marks a significant milestone for the crypto exchange. It is a step in Bitfinex’s long-term strategy to deliver financial freedom and inclusion to communities and countries around the world, as outlined in the Bitfinex Freedom Manifesto.
The Chief Technology Officer of the Bitfinex group commenting on the new license said:
“We are delighted to be the first company to be awarded this license. It will enable Bitfinex Securities to facilitate the issuance and secondary trading of assets with clearly defined rights and obligations as outlined in the new digital asset regulatory regime. It means that a whole range of entities, from small companies to governments, can raise capital in a regulated environment, and tap into a class of investors that are extremely comfortable with crypto assets and tokenized securities, which represents a market of over $1 trillion with a peak of $3 trillion.”
The new crypto law in El Salvador
The new Digital Asset Issuance Law in El Salvador was passed by El Salvador’s National Congress in January 2023 and it aims to foster increased financial innovation and growth in the Central American country.
The new El Salvador crypto laws established a framework for the country to issue Bitcoin-backed bonds, which are also referred to as “Volcano Bonds”.