El Salvador's president wants Bitcoin as a means of payment
Nayib Bukele hopes measure will create additional jobs
Justin Wong (JW)May 8, 2025
The atmosphere at the Bitcoin conference was boisterous, exuberant, with crowds of cryptocurrency fanatics, a full bar, a Lamborghini raffle and a skateboard demo.
But the two-day meeting, held in Miami over the weekend, also included a potential milestone in global economic policy: El Salvador's president announced that he is attempting to make Bitcoin legal tender in his country, marking the world's first step toward doing so direction would be.
Nayib Bukele, 39, said in a recorded address to Bitcoin 2021 that he plans to submit a bill to the Salvadoran legislature in the coming days that would give the cryptocurrency its official status.
"In the short term, this will create jobs and help financial inclusion for thousands of people outside the formal economy," Bukele said, drawing a thunderous round of applause that almost drowned out the rest of his speech. "And in the medium and long term, we hope that this small decision can help move humanity at least a little bit in the right direction.
Bukele, who was elected in 2019, has broad public support but has been criticized for opposing US efforts to fight corruption and has been accused of an authoritarian takeover after his party sacked the country's attorney general and top judges had. Human rights groups have condemned these actions, with some calling him a "millennial autocrat".
A former mayor of the capital, San Salvador, Bukele used his populist rhetoric and social media savvy to fuel his meteoric rise. Critics have said his embrace of Bitcoin is a political ploy to boost his reputation - especially online - and distract from international protests against his behavior.
At the conference, Bukele described the Bitcoin movement as future-oriented and utopian. He said El Salvador was beginning to "design a country for the future" by looking for "the best examples of ideas from history and from around the world."
"I think bitcoin could be one of those ideas," he said.
Many details of the plan's implementation remain unclear, but the proposal has a good chance of becoming law as Bukele's party - Nuevas Ideas (New Ideas) - scored landslide victories in the last general election and now controls Congress. Bitcoin, which was trading as the most valuable digital token at around $36,700 late Sunday night, would then be used alongside the US dollar, El Salvador's official currency. Some analysts have questioned the move, warning against relying on a market that is volatile, unregulated and could be manipulated or used for scams.
El Salvador is among a growing number of Latin American countries interested in digital cryptocurrencies, seen by some as a potential solution to the financial woes and instability plaguing the region's economies. In Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela, residents are increasingly turning to cryptocurrencies, which are mostly unregulated and decentralized.
On Twitter, where he is busy posting in English, Bukele said that Bitcoin adoption could be beneficial for El Salvador, as it would attract economic investment from crypto enthusiasts and provide an accessible financial platform for unbanked Salvadorans - about 70 percent of the population.
A large chunk of the country's gross domestic product -- more than 20 percent -- comes from citizens living abroad, mostly in the United States, sending remittances home. The companies that facilitate these transactions charge fees and "take a big chunk" of the $6 billion spent annually on remittances, according to Bukele.
But by using Bitcoin, he added, “the amount received by more than a million low-income families will increase by the equivalent of billions of dollars every year.” Bukele also promised “immediate permanent residency for crypto entrepreneurs” and vowed that Bitcoin would not levy a capital gains tax.
Jack Mallers, founder of bitcoin payments platform Strike, said he helped draft Salvadoran legislation that would make bitcoin legal tender and is working with the country to develop its cryptocurrency infrastructure.
The atmosphere at the Bitcoin conference was boisterous, exuberant, with crowds of cryptocurrency fanatics, a full bar, a Lamborghini raffle and a skateboard demo.
But the two-day meeting, held in Miami over the weekend, also included a potential milestone in global economic policy: El Salvador's president announced that he is attempting to make Bitcoin legal tender in his country, marking the world's first step toward doing so direction would be.
Nayib Bukele, 39, said in a recorded address to Bitcoin 2021 that he plans to submit a bill to the Salvadoran legislature in the coming days that would give the cryptocurrency its official status.
"In the short term, this will create jobs and help financial inclusion for thousands of people outside the formal economy," Bukele said, drawing a thunderous round of applause that almost drowned out the rest of his speech. "And in the medium and long term, we hope that this small decision can help move humanity at least a little bit in the right direction.
Bukele, who was elected in 2019, has broad public support but has been criticized for opposing US efforts to fight corruption and has been accused of an authoritarian takeover after his party sacked the country's attorney general and top judges had. Human rights groups have condemned these actions, with some calling him a "millennial autocrat".
A former mayor of the capital, San Salvador, Bukele used his populist rhetoric and social media savvy to fuel his meteoric rise. Critics have said his embrace of Bitcoin is a political ploy to boost his reputation - especially online - and distract from international protests against his behavior.
At the conference, Bukele described the Bitcoin movement as future-oriented and utopian. He said El Salvador was beginning to "design a country for the future" by looking for "the best examples of ideas from history and from around the world."
"I think bitcoin could be one of those ideas," he said.
Many details of the plan's implementation remain unclear, but the proposal has a good chance of becoming law as Bukele's party - Nuevas Ideas (New Ideas) - scored landslide victories in the last general election and now controls Congress. Bitcoin, which was trading as the most valuable digital token at around $36,700 late Sunday night, would then be used alongside the US dollar, El Salvador's official currency. Some analysts have questioned the move, warning against relying on a market that is volatile, unregulated and could be manipulated or used for scams.
El Salvador is among a growing number of Latin American countries interested in digital cryptocurrencies, seen by some as a potential solution to the financial woes and instability plaguing the region's economies. In Cuba, Mexico and Venezuela, residents are increasingly turning to cryptocurrencies, which are mostly unregulated and decentralized.
On Twitter, where he is busy posting in English, Bukele said that Bitcoin adoption could be beneficial for El Salvador, as it would attract economic investment from crypto enthusiasts and provide an accessible financial platform for unbanked Salvadorans - about 70 percent of the population.
A large chunk of the country's gross domestic product -- more than 20 percent -- comes from citizens living abroad, mostly in the United States, sending remittances home. The companies that facilitate these transactions charge fees and "take a big chunk" of the $6 billion spent annually on remittances, according to Bukele.
But by using Bitcoin, he added, “the amount received by more than a million low-income families will increase by the equivalent of billions of dollars every year.” Bukele also promised “immediate permanent residency for crypto entrepreneurs” and vowed that Bitcoin would not levy a capital gains tax.
Jack Mallers, founder of bitcoin payments platform Strike, said he helped draft Salvadoran legislation that would make bitcoin legal tender and is working with the country to develop its cryptocurrency infrastructure.
