Tenerife‘s leadership is negotiating the sale of 97 bitcoins (BTC) worth $10 million, which the island’s Institute of Technology and Renewable Energy (further Institute) purchased in 2012 for only €10,000.
Tenerife Island Council member Juan José Martínez, who oversees the Institute’s work, said the department is in talks with a Spanish financial institution about implementing BTC.
While regulatory restrictions are holding up the sale, Martinez is hopeful the deal will go through within the next couple of months.
The institute acquired Bitcoin 13 years ago as part of a research project to study the mechanisms of the first cryptocurrency and technology. Block.
The Institute subsequently lost access to the wallet for eight years, and since then, BTC prices have increased 1000-fold. However, Martinez emphasized that this was not a financial investment.
He added that “it makes sense to try to sell them now, when they have grown so much, and invest in the Institute’s own projects.”
Interestingly, the previous president of the Tenerife Island Council, Pedro Martin, criticized this initiative, highlighting the «opaque» nature of cryptocurrencies.