Digital asset platform Bitfinex Securities said it will refund investors ofits Hilton hotel venture at El Salvador’s international airport after it failed to attract the $500,000 minimum funding needed to continue.
The project, which marked the first public offering of digital debt assets in El Salvador, only mustered in $342,000 from investors before the first deadline — barely 5% of the $6.25 million it was looking to raise.
“As per the Relevant Information Document, Bitfinex will be refunding all investors,” a Bitfinex spokesperson confirmed with Cointelegraph.
But Bitfinex won’t act right away. “We expect the issuer to restructure the offer,” the spokesperson said.
The issuer — Inversiones Laguardia S.A. de C.V. — hasn’t confirmed what its next course of action w
For now, Bitfinex has removed the public offering from its website.
The funds were intended to finance the construction of the Hampton by Hilton hotel, sized at 4,500 square feet across five levels with 80 rooms, a restaurant, working area, swimming pool, gym and garden.
To own a slice of the Hilton hotel, investors hadto make a minimum $1,000 investment to purchase the “HILSV” token on the Bitcoin layer 2 Liquid Network.
In exchange, crowdfunders were to receive a 10% coupon over a 5-year term.
El Salvador, widely known for its Bitcoin investment and adoption strategy, expanded into the real-world asset tokenization space in April 2023 when it granted Bitfinex a digital asset service provider license.
When the Hilton hotel venture was announced, Bitcoin commentator Stacy Herbert said Bitfinex’s expansion marked a “new era of capital markets” on Bitcoin in El Salvador as it would offer the local population a new way to access financial markets.
Meanwhile, El Salvador is looking to establish investment banks that offer Bitcoiners access to financial services with fewer restrictions compared to traditional banks.