Development bank of El Salvador, BANDESAL refuses to disclose Bitcoin records

The Development Bank of El Salvador, BANDESAL, refused the Anti-Corruption Legal Advisory Center’s (ALAC) request to disclose information on the government’s Bitcoin purchase and sale records, according to a tweet by ALAC on Oct. 31.

On Aug. 31, 2021, El Salvador’s Democratic Assembly approved a law to allow BANDESAL a US$150 million trust fund, FIDEBITCOIN, to facilitate conversions from Bitcoin to US dollars ahead of the country’s adoption of the cryptocurrency as legal tender in Sept. 2021.

Since then, BANDESAL has been entrusted with the duty of managing funds used by the government’s Bitcoin projects. 

In a refusal statement, BANDESAL turned down ALAC’s request to disclose Bitcoin acquisition records on grounds of confidentiality and legal protection of state information. 

Since El Salvador’s Bitcoin adoption, speculation and skepticism has been raised concerning the government’s spending.

Based on available information, the government has purchased  2,301 Bitcoin since September 2021 for around $ 103.9 million.

The government also launched a project to build a Bitcoin city dubbed Bitcoin Volcani bond, and attempted to raise US$ 1 billion to facilitate the project. However, the project has been delayed and progress has never been publicized.

El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele is also an avid Bitcoin investor, and makes announcements on Twitter on his Bitcoin purchases on Twitter regularly. Despite this, no official records of his purchases or the government’s has ever been released in an official capacity.

Photo:  Forbes