El Salvador’s Bitcoin City Wins an International Design Award (Report)

The LOOP Design Awards reportedly recognized the Bitcoin City of El Salvador’s government as one of the most outstanding projects in interior design and architecture. 

When completed, the metropolis will use the energy released from the Conchagua volcano to power itself and BTC as its currency. 

Bukele’s Dream City Gets an Award

According to recent coverage, El Salvador’s urban project stood out among 700 proposals. The jury outlined its innovative interior style, while the beautiful surrounding nature and the nearby volcanoes also attributed to the success. They also highlighted the work of the Mexican architect Fernando Romero who designed it.

The Bitcoin City will be built in the southeast of the Latin American country, close to two of the nation’s biggest volcanoes – Conchagua and Tecapa. Romero’s team said the future metropolis will be “efficient and sustainable” and will use geothermal energy from the volcanoes to power itself. 

It will use bitcoin as its currency which could provide certain monetary benefits to the residents. “The new public space will be the culmination of decades of research into what humans need to live well in an anti-inflationary economy,” the architect outlined.

Romero designed the urban area in the shape of a circle so it could represent the logo of bitcoin when looked at from above. 

The President of El Salvador – Nayib Bukele – was the first to present the project in 2021. The local government planned to raise a $1 billion bitcoin-backed bond to finance the construction, which was supposed to mature in 2032. However, the authorities postponed it in March 2022, citing unfavorable market conditions.

Bukele shed more light on the design in May last year, showing how the city will look when observed from the air, its modern airport, and its volcano watchtower.

So Many More Bitcoin Initiatives

Apart from becoming the first nation to embrace the primary cryptocurrency as a legal tender, El Salvador’s government has also introduced several projects related to it in the past few years.

It built a massive vet hospital named Chivo Pets, where treatments are paid in BTC, and opened an education center that provides “free and accessible learning opportunities” surrounding the asset for Salvadorans.

The authorities have also started accumulating bitcoin on a macroeconomic level, holding approximately $54 million of it (as of now). The amount, though, could be higher since Bukele announced in November that the government will purchase one BTC per day. It remains unknown whether the buying spree goes as promised.