In January, El Salvador passed legislation to issue a $1billion bond offering as a smart contract issued on the Liquid Network (with Blockstream and Bitfinex handling the design and marketing of the bond).
$500 million of the money raised will be used to build new power plants. The other $500 million will be used to buy more bitcoin.
It's now April, and Bitfinex has been granted a digital asset service provider licence, which will allow it to operate secondary markets trading the bonds:
Companies from around the world will be able to issue a broad range of digital assets including equities, bonds and other financial instruments via a newly-formed entity in El Salvador called Bitfinex Securities El Salvador, S.A. De C.V., ensuring full regulatory compliance under El Salvador law. The development presents a unique opportunity for both businesses and individuals to capitalise on the benefits of issuing, investing and trading in digital assets in El Salvador’s favourable regulatory environment, and to capture significant cost and efficiency advantages compared to the process of raising capital in traditional finance.
Bitfinex Securities El Salvador will operate separately from the Bitfinex group’s existing platform, Bitfinex Securities AIFC, operated by Bitfinex Securities Limited.
It's quite a big deal, and is bullish for Bitcoin.