A small private city called Próspera, on the Caribbean island of Roatán, in the territory of Honduras, adopted bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender, in what is another step in the irruption of the first cryptocurrency in the monetary system of the countries.
This was confirmed by Joel Bomgar, the president of the company Honduras Prospera Inc. who carried out the charter city project. The announcement was made during the Bitcoin Conference 2022.
After being addressed by Samson Mow, former chief strategy officer of BlockStream, Bomgar indicated that in that city bitcoin operates as a legal currency. This means there is no capital gains tax.
Among the other announcements by the president of Honduras, Prospera Inc. is the enabling of bitcoin bonds as of today. According to him, the jurisdiction preference may allow other municipalities in Honduras or other companies or political subdivisions outside the United States to issue BTC bonds.
This financial instrument is a way to bring foreign direct investment to any part of the world, using a centralized mechanism criticized by bitcoin maximalists: KYC (know-your-customer) and anti-money laundering (AML) measures.
There was another announcement: there is an incentive for those who want to invest in Honduras. By offering services directly from your company, such as convertible notes, available to investors who are accredited with the State, with a legal process and framed in the laws of the United States, receiving capital in security tokens.
Prospera, whose origin dates back to 2011, was not erected until early last year, by the hand of the aforementioned company. It is a portion of land on the island of Roatan, in northern Honduras, which was ceded by the government to the company and where now lies a private city, where the arrival of investors is promoted.
In order to carry out the project, the businessmen adhered to the law of Employment and Economic Development Zones (ZEDE) of Honduras, for which they created a whole legislation that makes them, in a certain way, independent from the country. However, all ZEDE respond to the Constitution of Honduras, so centralization prevails.
Próspera is located on 58 acres, or the equivalent of 218,000 square meters. It is a small site where, as of April of last year, there were only three buildings constructed. However, they intend to expand and invite anyone to join the cause.
This private city has serious similarities to Bitcoin City, the first bitcoin city in Latin America, which was announced last year by the president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele.
Although this bitcoin city has not yet materialized, it is expected to exempt income, capital gains, property, contracting and municipal taxes. The intention of the Bitcoin City, as in Próspera, is clear: to attract private investors, using bitcoin as a bait.
