El Salvador’s long-awaited Bitcoin City may finally rise, powered by a $1.6 billion investment to overhaul the nation’s key ports, signaling a bold economic shift.

$1.6B Port Investment Is Largest in El Salvador's History

Two El Salvadorian port developments will get $1.6 billion from Turkish port and terminal operator Yilport Holdings. El Salvador's grandiose Bitcoin City project may finally come to fruition with this massive private investment, the biggest of its kind in the Central American nation's history.

A video posted by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele on his X account revealed the arrangement. For the next half-century, the ports of Acajutla and La Unión will be run jointly by Yilport and El Salvador's Autonomous Port Executive Commission (CEPA).

Bitcoin City Future Linked to La Unión Port

According to the video on Bukele's X account, the construction of the La Unión port began in 2005, but it was never launched. Bitcoin City is supposed to be located in La Unión.

In 2021, shortly after Bukele made Bitcoin legal tender in the country, he announced the building of Bitcoin City. Aside from value-added tax, the new city would be free to operate entirely on Bitcoin.

There was a lot of excitement at the country's National Bitcoin Commission Office to link the port's revitalization with Bitcoin City.

In a tweet, Bukele's top Bitcoin advisor, Max Keiser, said:

Stacy Herbert, director of the Bitcoin Office, added:

An initial plan called for a $1 billion Bitcoin bond to fund Bitcoin City. Due to plans to mine the Bitcoin backing it using geothermal power from extinct volcanoes, that bond was also known as the Volcano Bond.

The original plan was for Blockstream and iFinex, which is linked to Tether, to offer technical support. After Samson Mow, chief strategy officer of Blockstream, departed the firm, he founded JAN3, which has promised to contribute to the development of Bitcoin City in El Salvador.

Volcano Bond’s Success Tied to Bitcoin City’s Future

Though it failed to launch in the first quarter, the Volcano Bond cleared legislative and regulatory barriers in December. The dredging and heavy equipment procurement at La Unión for the Yilport-CEPA project is now scheduled to take place by the end of the year.