Tokenized shares issued on the Bitcoin layer 2 Liquid Network will allow investors to earn a share in a new 4,500-square-foot Hampton by Hilton hotel in El Salvador.
One of the most crypto-friendly countries in the world, El Salvador has introduced a new investment opportunity for crowdfunders. The first-ever tokenised asset sale facilitated by Bitfinex Securities provides blockchain transparency to the investors of the construction project for the new Hampton by Hilton hotel complex based at El Salvador International Airport.
Bitfinex Securities which enables the asset sale is the first regulated entity to receive a legal licence to operate under El Salvador’s Digital Asset Securities Law. The associated debt is, in turn, issued by Inversiones Laguardia S.A. de C.V. The company is looking to raise $6.25 million from investors in exchange for a 10% coupon over a five-year term.
The minimum investment is $1,000. Besides typical investment benefits, the hotel operator will provide crowdfunders with free hotel night accommodation based on the size of the investment made.
The token linked to the real-world property will be issued under the ticker HILSV on the Liquid Network, a sidechain of Bitcoin, using Blockstream AMP. It will be traded against US dollars and Tether tokens.
“The HILSV token marks the first digital asset tokenisation from El Salvador and represents an important step forward in developing its nascent capital market as well as introducing a major new asset class into the market. For the first time, investors who do not usually have the opportunity to invest in such assets have the opportunity to do so, while issuers in markets which have less access to capital, are able to tap into a new asset class to raise finance.”
Paolo Ardoino, CTO of Bitfinex Securities
Jesse Knutson, Head of Operations at Bitfinex Securities, adds that the innovative asset sale type is “a testament to the transformative power of Bitcoin-based capital markets.” It is possible due to the recently implemented digital asset laws in the country which was the first in the world to make Bitcoin one of the legally accepted currencies.
Roberto Laguardia, president of Inversiones Laguardia, mentions a few significant benefits of the capital markets expansion enabled by new laws. The main ones are the potential for growth in the tourism sector and other economic sectors, job creation, and previously untapped investment opportunities.
Thus, before the new capital market possibilities facilitated by Bitcoin, local real estate investors could either make no investments at all or buy an entire house. The new type of capital raise enables partial investments in real estate projects.
According to a recent BCG report, Illiquid assets, including real estate and natural resources, are increasingly tokenized all over the world, being able to reach $16 trillion by the end of the decade,
Inversiones Laguardia also expects the capital raise to bring jobs to about 1,000 people during the construction phase and create up to 5,000 direct and indirect job positions during the hotel’s operational phase.
