Guatemala’s “dry” alternative to the Panama Canal is being partially financed via an innovative tokenization scheme.
Guatemala hides one of the most ambitious infrastructure projects of the Americas in many years. A private group has been quietly yet firmly developing the Guatemalan Interoceanic Corridor (GIC), a “dry canal” that will cut through Central America, connecting the Atlantic and the Pacific.
Unlike the Panama Canal, which is a synthetic waterway, the corridor will be a land-based logistical artery. It is to include a highway, a railway, pipelines for oil and gas, and logistics parks for multiple entry points that will feed into the main 372-kilometer-long route. The first two stages of the corridor, targeted for completion by the end of the decade, will link the planned Pacific port of San Luis with the Atlantic-Caribbean port of San Jorge, which will serve as the corridor’s endpoints.
The Guatemalan Interoceanic Consor-tium (CIGSA), India’s Lakshmi Capital, and the Office for Links and Businesses with Latin America (ODEPAL) signed a letter of intent to develop the project in February 2024. Conservative estimates have the total project cost including ports, logistics parks, highway, railway, gasoduct, and oleoduct at $7 billion.
“It is all about being closer to the main economic zone in our continent,” says Guillermo Catalán, GIC project chair and general manager of ODEPAL, the Guatemalan construction firm developing the GIC. “Global trade revolves around three main regions: Asia, Europe, and North America, which generate 80% of wealth and trade exchange. Our comparative advantage is proximity. Plus, we operate under a private regime with a protective law and social backing through inclusive business models where local actors participate.”
In 2023, Mexico opened its own “dry” alternative to the Panama Canal, the Interoceanic Corridor of the Isthmus of Tehuantepec. And in 2024, Honduras began promoting a prospective railway connecting the oceans.
Alongside a feat of engineering, the GIC boasts an innovative financing scheme.
One of the biggest expenses is the purchase of the land itself. The buyback program has a budget of $500 million, of which $175 million comes from a mix of traditional financing methods like funds, banks, and private investors. The remaining $325 million are being raised via tokenization, whereby real-world assets are tied to blockchain technology. These become digital bonds that can be traded on digital marketplaces as well. The purpose of tokenization is to fully democratize financing by making projects available to investors of any size. For the developers, the advantage is that more capital can be raised, from anywhere in the world. The first issuance of the token came out in late October 2025 for $38.5 million backed by real-world assets. The second tranche for the remaining balance is expected by Q2 2026.
While tokenization is a relatively new financing mechanism, more than one country has jumped in. Most famously, nearby El Salvador has implemented regulations adding tokens to the list of perks that make it a digital country. A 2023 law set the framework for issuing tokens, and the results have been substantial for the construction business.
Financing a major infrastructure project through tokens offers a vote of confidence in an innovative, decentralized financial mechanism. It also raises the standard for other countries considering how digitalization might fit into their future. As tokenization has become a popular alternative to traditional financing it has been mainly limited to real estate projects. The GIC is the first infrastructure project to employ it.
“Regulated tokenization from El Salvador is redefining who can invest,” says Alejandro Muñoz, CEO of Accelerate, the Salvadoran law firm that developed Coingt, the token being used for the GIC. “For the first time, ordinary people, without being qualified investors or having large capital, can participate directly in large-scale regional infrastructure projects. From this new financial architecture, initiatives like Guatemala’s Interoceanic Corridor cease to be exclusive to large funds and open up to more accessible, transparent investment with fewer intermediaries.”
Aside from adding a new logistical link to Atlantic-Pacific trade, the wider implication is that the GIC will play a role in connecting a developing Latin American region, financially and digitally, to the rest of the world, and in doing so, will bridge not only goods but also people.
