This initiative, which has a 1,000-participant annual cap, seeks to attract high-net-worth individuals by providing them with residency and eventual citizenship in exchange for their investment.
The initiative will require the ‘participant’ to make a $1 million investment in BTC or USDT, and successful applicants will be eligible for a Salvadoran passport and citizenship. According to a Bitcoin news source, Adriana Mira, El Salvador's Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs, emphasized the program as a critical step for anyone hoping to contribute to El Salvador's economic future.
However, Tether needed to make it clear where the funding will take place.
In September, El Salvador became the first nation to accept Bitcoin as a legal tender. The country required companies to accept the popular cryptocurrency as payment and launched a digital wallet named "Chivo" to encourage its citizens to use it by offering a $30 sign-up bonus in Bitcoin.
However, this plan evoked controversies among the Salvadoran public, with them protecting against the action – and President Nayib Bukele's alarming shift towards autocracy ensued – a vast majority of them continuing the use of cash. According to Fortune, Bitcoin's price fell from an all-time high of over $69,000 in November 2021—when Bukele announced the building of a “Bitcoin City”— to less than $17,000 by the start of 2023 as a result of Bukele's disastrous use of tens of millions of federal funds on the cryptocurrency.
How Did Bitcoin Boost The El Salvador’s Tourism
Despite the controversy revolving around the initiative, the country has gained popularity among Bitcoin enthusiasts worldwide. The country’s tourism minister announced in May that travellers were coming to the nation in unprecedented quantities because of its dedication to cryptocurrency. This included a huge number of the most well-known “Bitcoin maxis” in the world, such Swan Bitcoin, a powerful business that established a home in El Zonte, a surf town that is primarily responsible for sparking the nation’s Bitcoin experiment.