Thomas Daniels
El Salvador, known for its progressive stance on cryptocurrencies, has announced a significant collaboration with iFinex, the parent company behind Bitfinex exchange and Tether (USDT), to create a robust regulatory framework for digital assets. This partnership underscores the country’s commitment to becoming a central hub for the global digital securities market.
On May 13, a declaration was made public detailing iFinex’s role in assisting the Salvadoran government to construct a formidable environment for digital and securities markets in the region. Paolo Ardoino, the CEO of both Bitfinex and Tether, articulated that this partnership heralds new avenues for mobilizing capital and the development of tokenized real-world assets such as equities.
Bitfinex and Tether stand as pioneers in the peer-to-peer exchange and stablecoin arenas, with Tether notably managing USDT, the leading stablecoin by market capitalization which exceeds $110 billion, according to data from CoinGecko.
President Nayib Bukele conveyed his optimism about the potential outcomes of this alliance, stating, “We are proud of this cooperation and believe that this will be an important step for El Salvador to become the new financial center of the world.”
In conjunction with the partnership with iFinex, El Salvador has also enhanced its cryptocurrency transparency initiatives. A new Bitcoin tracker has been launched, providing public visibility into the nation’s Bitcoin reserves, now reported to hold approximately 5,748 BTC valued at over $360 million.
The country took a groundbreaking step in 2021 by adopting Bitcoin as legal tender and has since continued to acquire Bitcoin daily, despite facing criticisms from international entities like the IMF. Nevertheless, challenges persist, such as issues with the state-run Bitcoin wallet Chivo and security breaches that have exposed user data. As of the latest updates, these issues remain unaddressed, yet El Salvador remains steadfast in its engagement with the burgeoning cryptocurrency sector.
