Latam Insights: Volcano Bonds Target Q1 2024 Launch, Unblock Global $15 Million Bitcoin Flare Gas Bet

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Welcome to Latam Insights, a compendium of Latin America’s most relevant crypto and economic news during the last week. In this issue: The Salvadoran Volcano Bonds might be launched in Q1 2024, Unblock Global raised $15 million for a flare gas mining project in Vaca Muerta, and Argentine President Javier Milei axes ministries to reduce state expenditure.

Salvadoran Volcano Bonds Target Q1 2024 Launch

Discussion about the Salvadoran Bitcoin Volcano Bonds, a series of digital on-chain debt instruments that would help to fund the construction of the so-called Bitcoin City in El Salvador, has resurfaced after the approval of the regulatory framework enabling its issuance.

The bonds, to be issued by Bitfinex Securities using Blockstream tech, are now estimated to be launched in Q1 2024, according to a recent post from the Bitcoin Office in El Salvador. The institution highlighted the significance of this move, stressing that the approval of this regulation marked “just the beginning for new capital markets on bitcoin in El Salvador.”

Stacy Herbert, head of the Bitcoin Office, explained they were working on the size of the offer, estimated to be around $1 billion, and that issuing these first sovereign bonds will help develop new capital markets around Bitcoin.

Unblock Global Raises $15 Million to Take Advantage of Flare Gas Possibilities for Bitcoin Mining in Argentina

Unblock Global, a Bitcoin mining company, announced it had raised $15 million to take advantage of the flare gas possibilities for Bitcoin mining in Vaca Muerta, one of the largest oil reservoirs in Argentina. The capital raise, which had the participation of Crusoe Energy, Pampa Energia, and Petrocuyo, will enable Vaca Muerta to produce oil with less emissions, according to Tomas Ocampo, founder of Unblock Computing, an Argentine branch of Unblock Global.

Ocampo explained that burning 10% of methane in flare gas helps reduce oil emissions’ impact seven times. Ocampo also remarked that Unblock Global was the second company executing this kind of bitcoin flare-mining project.

Argentine President Javier Milei Axes Ministries to Reduce State Expenditures

The newly proclaimed Argentine President Javier Milei has started fulfilling one of his campaign promises, slashing several existing ministries to reduce state expenditure. As part of his shock adjustment policies, Milei slashed the number of ministries to nine, targeting a reduction of 5% of the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) in public spending.

Milei also led a reduction of public subsidies for energy and transportation that will be executed next year and devalued the Argentine peso’s value by more than 50%. “We are without doubt facing the worst legacy in our history, a country where Argentines are increasingly poorer,” Economy Minister Luis Caputo concluded.

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