A donation of 36 bitcoin and $600,000 worth of tether tokens will be made to support communities and small businesses in El Salvador, the crypto exchange Bitfinex announced on Thursday. The funds will initially target small businesses in Salvadoran communities in Apopa, Ilopango, and Soyapango, according to Bitfinex.

The digital currency exchange Bitfinex has announced that it is giving 600,000 tether (USDT) and 36 bitcoin (BTC), which together are worth just over $734K at the current BTC exchange rate, to communities and small businesses in El Salvador, a country in Central America.

The BTC donations will be sent to the “recipients’ bitcoin wallets, including the Chivo wallets,” according to a blog post on Thursday by Bitfinex. According to Bitfinex, the $1.33 million in cryptocurrency assets will first go to three communities to support “a variety of projects and initiatives.”

.

 

The funds will first target small businesses in the communities of Ilopango, Soyapango, and Apopa. “Among the ventures supported by the donations are green business initiatives employing young men to reduce pollution in lake Ilopango and clean up litter in Apopa,” the blog post details.

Bitcoin became legal tender in El Salvador on September 7, 2021, and the country’s government immediately started purchasing BTC that day. On July 1, 2022, Bitcoin.com News reported that the country acquired 80 BTC when the leading crypto asset dropped below $19K per unit. The Salvadoran government purchased approximately 2,381 bitcoins since the legal tender law was codified last year.

Paolo Ardoino, the CTO at Bitfinex, believes the $1.33 million in crypto assets will help Salvadoran communities that need it most. “This funding demonstrates in real-time bitcoin’s potential to bring prosperity and economic freedom,” Ardoino said in a statement on Thursday. The Bitfinex executive continued:

By providing bitcoin and tether to local communities in El Salvador, we will provide vital support to small businesses while also countering the effects of gang violence that has swept across the country.

The blog post also revealed that the $1 billion volcano token project in El Salvador is being “financial technology provided” by Bitfinex Securities El Salvador, S.A. de C.V. The framework required for the token to be traded in “inefficient and liquid markets” will be provided by the trading platform Bitfinex. Only Bitfinex Securities customers in certain countries can purchase the token; Americans will not be permitted.

The parent company of Bitfinex, Ifinex Inc., states in a blog post that it is working with the government of El Salvador to develop a framework for regulating digital assets and securities that will be used to issue and manage digital financial instruments in El Salvador. “Also, support the development and implementation of balanced cryptocurrency legislation and regulation on digitized financial services.”