Bitfinex Securities to issue Bitcoin mining notes BNM2 in El Salvador in Q1 2025

Bitfinex Securities announced it plans to issue Blockstream Mining Note 2 (BMN2) in El Salvador in the first quarter of this year. The company said that BMN2 is a tokenized financial product that will allow investors to obtain Bitcoin mining income from Blockstream by holding it.

Blockstream had previously issued BMN1 in Luxembourg, which garnered investors more than 1,212 BTC in three years. The firm has also lowered the investment threshold for the BMN2 notes issued in El Salvador, compared to the Luxembourg version that required a minimum investment of $100,000.

Bitfinex wants to issue BMN2 notes in El Salvador in Q1 2025

#Bitfinex Securities COO Jesse Knutson said the company plans to issue the Blockstream Mining Note 2 (BMN2) in El Salvador in the first quarter of this year, Diario El Salvador reported.

— Silas Sanders (@hoeca9) January 31, 2025

A “note” is a debt instrument in which an issuer commits to paying the investor a fixed amount on a future date, often with interest or a return linked to an asset’s performance. Tokenization refers to converting any type of asset into a digital unit called a token, which can be stored, transferred, and managed securely. 

Notes are similar to bonds, and issuances are similar to those of traditional exchanges because they operate in a regulated environment, in this case, by the CNAD. The difference is that notes are created in a digital and global market that utilizes the advantages of blockchain technology.

Blockstream Mining Notes are tokenized financial products that offer investors exposure to Bitcoin Mining. The token investors receive returns based on the bitcoins mined from Blockstream’s operations.

Jesse Knutson, Head of Operations at Bitfinex Securities, said in an interview with Diario El Salvador that the firm will launch the Blockstream Mining Note 2 (BMN2) under Salvadoran laws. The first version of the instrument issued from Luxembourg, BMN1, achieved a capital return of 108% and paid investors roughly $70,677,346.

“BMN2 is one of the few tokenized products that has a history, and investors can see the results of BMN1. This will be a direct issuance on our platform, and investors will be able to buy and sell on it. We are working with the CNAD (National Commission of Digital Assets) to obtain approval.”

~ Jesse Knutson, Chief Operating Officer at Bitfinex Securities.

Knutson maintained that the Digital Assets Law in El Salvador would be very flexible, allowing investors to have a lower entry ticket to BMN2. He also acknowledged that the company’s vision is to make El Salvador the center of the new capital markets in 2025 through some of the instruments it will bring this year. According to Knutson, the company also plans to introduce products such as tokenized real estate shares, bond issuance and the first tokenized funds in the coming months.

At the end of 2024, the company also introduced a tokenized public offering of tokenized U.S. Treasury bills (T-bills) under El Salvador’s Digital Asset Issuance Act.

El Salvador seeks to become a crypto hub of the world

Diario El Salvador confirmed that Bitfinex Securities held an event with different panels as part of the Plan B Forum that started this week. The first panel focused on the issuance of tokens from El Salvador and featured the National Commission of Digital Assets and tokenization experts. The panel shared all the requirements for creating and launching tokenized products in the country.

The second panel discussed the adoption of Bitcoin and the development of digital asset regulations with the Bitcoin Law and the Digital Asset Issuance Law. The third panel, which included representatives from Penguin, Ocean, Blockstream, and Tether Mining, mainly focused on the mining industry.

Under President Nayib Bukele’s leadership, El Salvador has emerged as a crypto-friendly state, which has attracted companies in the industry like Bitfinex. In 2021, it also became the first country to make Bitcoin legal tender.

Bitfinex’s child company, Bitfinex Derivatives, took the initiative to move to El Salvador this year after it secured a Digital Asset Service Providers (DASP) license. The company’s Chief Technology Officer, Paolo Ardoino, emphasized that the transition represented a defining moment for Bitfinex Derivatives and also highlighted El Salvador’s rise as a global financial hub.

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