GarciaBodan El Salvador provided legal counsel in the acquisition of a hostel valued at US $840,000, paid entirely in Bitcoin. The client, a U.S. investor and cryptocurrency enthusiast dedicated to business consulting, established in the country a Simplified Joint Stock Company (SAS in Spanish), a new corporate structure that allows the incorporation of companies in an agile manner with a single shareholder.
Unlike traditional companies that require two or more partners, SAS may be formed by a single natural or legal person through a simplified online process before El Salvador’s Commercial Registry. This model aims to promote entrepreneurship, encourage investment, and foster business formalization, becoming a key tool to boost the national economy.
The GarciaBodan team, led by Senior Associate Rodrigo Benítez, advised the client through various stages of the transaction: from the regulatory and permitting due diligence of the property, the analysis of its revenues, and the incorporation of the company for the acquisition, to the management of the loan backed by cryptoassets and coordination with the platform for the execution of the Bitcoin payment.
One of the main challenges was structuring the transaction in a way that ensured the investor would not assume joint liability in tax matters. Furthermore, the operation represents a milestone in the local market, as it is one of the first real estate transactions in El Salvador to be formalized entirely in cryptocurrencies, reinforcing the country’s legal certainty as an attractive destination for investors interested in the crypto ecosystem.