On Thursday, crypto exchange Bitfinex announced that it is planning to make a donation to small businesses and communities located in El Salvador. The donation would comprise Tether tokens worth $600,000 and 36 bitcoins. The Bitfinex exchange announced that the funds would initially be aimed at helping small businesses located in the Soyapango, Ilopango, and Apopa communities.
The donation
According to the digital currency exchange, the 36 bitcoins that it will donate are valued at $743,000 and $600,000 in USDT tokens would be donated to the small communities and businesses located in the Central American country.
On Thursday, the crypto exchange asserted in a blog post that the donations would be sent to the bitcoin wallets of the ‘recipients’, which include the Chivo wallets. Bitfinex further said that the $1.33 million donation would first be given primarily to three communities in El Salvador for supporting a number of initiatives and projects.
It added that some of the ventures that would be given support via donation include green business initiatives that employ young men for cleaning up litter in Apopa and reducing pollution in Lake Ilopango.
Bitcoin adoption
El Salvador become the first country in the world to declare bitcoin as legal tender last year on September 7th. Since that day, the government of the country began to buy Bitcoin. On July 1st, it was reported that the government had acquired an additional 80 bitcoins when the price of the leading crypto went below the $19,000 mark.
Since it had declared bitcoin as legal tender in the country, the El Salvadorian government had acquired a total of 2,381 bitcoins. Bitfinex’s CTO, Paolo Ardoino stated that the donations worth $1.33 million would provide support to El Salvadorian communities that require it the most.
On Thursday, Ardoino said in a statement that this donation makes it apparent that bitcoin has a lot of potentials when it comes to bringing economic freedom and prosperity. He said that by offering Tether and bitcoin to local communities in the country, they would give small businesses vital support and would also be able to mitigate the impact of gang violence that has spread throughout El Salvador.
Infrastructure provider
It was further announced in Bitfinex’s blog post that the crypto exchange was also working as the financial technology provider’ for the $1 billion volcano token project launched in El Salvador. The exchange said that it would provide the framework that would be needed for trading the token in liquid and efficient markets.
However, it should be noted that Bitfinex clientele in some jurisdictions would be able to access the token and it would not be available to US residents. Furthermore, the exchange’s parent company Ifinex Inc. is also working with the El Salvadorian government in creating a regulatory framework for digital assets and securities that would be used for regulating, operating and issuing digital instruments in the country. They would also help in the development of legislation and regulation relevant to cryptocurrencies in El Salvador.
