'First Citizen' of Bitcoin City Leaves El Salvador After Waiting Over 2 Years for Its Construction

Corbin Keegan, a U.S. national who self-proclaimed himself as the first citizen of Bitcoin City, has temporarily left El Salvador after waiting over two years for the state to build the settlement. President Nayib Bukele first announced this infrastructure proposal for Bitcoin City in November 2021. He also explained that the settlement would be constructed using funds from the so-called volcano bonds, which have not yet been issued.

First Bitcoin City Settler Returns to the U.S.; Vows to Come Back to El Salvador

The promise of constructing Bitcoin City, a Bitcoin-led settlement in El Salvador, has left at least one citizen hanging. Corbin Keegan, the self-proclaimed first settler of Bitcoin City, the geothermally powered metropolis President Nayib Bukele announced in November 2021, has left El Salvador and returned to the U.S.

Keegan arrived from Chicago to be one of the first inhabitants of the envisioned city and was reported to have returned temporarily to the U.S. after waiting for more than two years for some news on Bitcoin City. According to local press reports, Keegan lived in an improvised, self-built home close to the grounds he identified as terrain where the city would be built, in La Union.

Keegan, who identifies as a Bitcoiner, first lived in the area of El Zonte, where there is a sizable Bitcoin community. When he learned about the city, he wanted to live close to become the first resident of the place.

Besides what was said in the original announcement, not much has been disclosed about Bitcoin City. In January 2022, Bukele stated that El Salvador was securing the needed geothermal energy to power the city. Then on April 2023, the Public Works Ministry issued a document stating no project was registered with the Bitcoin City name and that the settlement could be in informal planning phases.

The so-called Volcano Bonds, which received regulatory approval last year and would be used to finance Bitcoin City’s construction, were estimated to be issued during Q1 2024. Nonetheless, they haven’t been issued yet.

Keegan’s landlord Maria Antonio declared he would return to the country in December to keep waiting for the city’s construction.