The investigation could become a sensitive issue in El Salvador, where many are calling the commitment to the digital asset a complete failure after it became legal tender and failed to deliver the dividends promised by the presidential house.
The $600 million CABEI loan was intended to support micro, small and medium-sized enterprises affected by the pandemic, and of that, only $20 million reached its target.
CABEI President Dante Mossi announced the loan in April 2021 with the message that the approved funds would benefit four million people, including Salvadoran businessmen and families.
OCCRP said in its investigation that budget documents showed the government diverted most of the money to finance its own needs. It allocated $425 million for general government obligations and of this, more than $200 million was allocated for the adoption of Bitcoin as a national currency.
The money was used to build the necessary financial architecture as well as donating $30 to those who downloaded the Chivo application. However, Mossi told OCCRP that CABEI specifically prohibited using Bitcoin for Bitcoin in the 600 million loan agreement.
The investigation found that the introduction of new practices since Mossi took office in late 2018 made it difficult to track how governments were using their funds.
The investigation found that the bank financed projects that were diverted because of corrupt practices or used to finance some governments’ pet projects, the investigation said.
Today, experts and followers of the topic certainly do not know how much Bitcoin El Salvador owns, although some estimate the amount at $76.5 million by September 2023.
This seems like a minor matter when you consider that Elon Musk, one of the richest men in the world, still owned around $1.26 billion in Bitcoin from his initial investment in 2021.
Regardless of the value of what El Salvador has invested in this cryptocurrency, it is striking that the government has used part of a loan for other purposes, to carry out a project that has not yet come to fruition, while criticism is growing and will continue in the future could increase. next weeks.
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