According to representative Dania González, the goal is to expand the country’s financial infrastructure with new players that remain fully regulated and supervised – operating alongside, rather than outside, the traditional banking sector. The Ministry of Economy supported the legislation.
Why the Focus Is Moving Upmarket
When El Salvador first declared Bitcoin legal tender in 2021, the emphasis was on everyday use – from shopkeepers to street vendors. But the mass adoption officials hoped for never materialized. Surveys indicate only one in five citizens uses cryptocurrency at all, and just 1% of remittance flows involve digital assets.
That slow uptake, combined with the need to secure a $1.4 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, prompted the government to scale back its retail Bitcoin initiatives earlier this year. The IMF agreement also came with a review of the country’s Bitcoin holdings.
The State of Government Bitcoin Buying
Bukele’s administration still promotes the idea of purchasing one bitcoin per day. However, IMF records and statements from the central bank suggest that recent “purchases” have simply been transfers from scattered government wallets into a single reserve account, rather than fresh acquisitions from the market.
Positioning for Institutional Capital
By shifting the emphasis to investment-grade crypto services, El Salvador is betting that well-capitalized banks catering to wealthy investors could succeed where retail adoption stalled. The new framework could turn the country into a regulated gateway for institutional Bitcoin and tokenized asset activity – while leaving mass-market adoption for another day.
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