Conchagua
Conchagua volcano towers above sandy beaches along the Gulf of Fonseca at the SE tip of El Salvador.
Highest point
Elevation	1,225 m (4,019 ft)
Coordinates	13°16′30″N 87°50′42″W / 13.275°N 87.845°W / 13.275; -87.845
Geography
Conchagua Location in El Salvador
Location	La Unión Department, El Salvador
Geology
Mountain type	Stratovolcano
Last eruption	Unknown

Conchagua (also known as Cochague) is a stratovolcano in southeastern El Salvador, overlooking the Gulf of Fonseca. Cerro del Ocote and Cerro de la Bandera are the two main summits, with Bandera appearing younger and more conical (see photo). There are active fumarolic areas on both peaks, but no confirmed historical eruptions. It is surrounded by forest called Bosque Conchagua. Conchagua, in Native American indigenous Salvadoran Lenca language, means (Flying Jaguar). According to historians, the volcano was settled by the Lenca civilization, who worshipped the goddess Comizahual, an indigenous Jaguar Princess. Lenca legends say that Conchagua was Comizahual's favorite volcano, and upon her death she was taken on top on Conchagua where her body turned into many golden Chiltota birds that took off from Conchagua volcano.

• 
  On top on Conchagua volcano, on a lookout called (Mirador Espiritu de la Montana), which overlooks the Gulf of Fonseca

Plans for Bitcoin City

The volcano was selected as the site for the planned "Bitcoin City", a smart city project that will use the energy from the volcano to power its infrastructure, as well as the mining of cryptocurrencies. The project, announced by President Nayib Bukele, will be funded by a $1 billion Bitcoin bond issued by state-owned power company LaGeo.^[1] Also known as "Volcano bonds", half of the income from the sales would fund the construction of Bitcoin City and the mining of cryptocurrencies. The other half would be invested in Bitcoins in the hope that they would rise in value. Most buyers are expected to be crypto investors, some of whom may be granted Salvadoran citizenship depending on how much bond they purchase.^[2]

Bukele has promised to make the city a tax haven, saying, “We will have no income tax, forever. No income tax, zero property tax, no procurement tax, zero city tax, and zero CO2 emissions...The only taxes that they will have in Bitcoin City is VAT, half will be used to pay the municipality’s bonds and the rest for the public infrastructure and maintenance of the city.”^[3]

The project has been criticized by ecologist Ricardo Navarro. “Geothermal still costs more than oil, otherwise we would already be using more of it. What will end up happening is that we will just be buying more oil," he told The Telegraph.^[4]

See also

• List of volcanoes in El Salvador
• List of stratovolcanoes

References

• "Conchagua". Global Volcanism Program. Smithsonian Institution.
• Rapprich V, Erban V, Fárová K, Kopačková V, Bellon H, Hernández W (2010). "Volcanic history of the Conchagua Peninsula (eastern El Salvador)" (PDF). Journal of Geosciences. 55 (2): 95–112. doi:10.3190/jgeosci.069.