President Bukele proposes Bitcoin bank for El Salvador two weeks after starting second term

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele is proposing the establishment of a private investment bank that if approved, would offer Bitcoin investors broader financial services than conventional banks.

“As part of our economic plan for El Salvador, we propose a BPI, Bank for Private Investment, where we can diversify the financing options offered to potential investors in dollars and Bitcoin,” Salvadoran Ambassador to the US Milena Mayorga wrote in a post on X.

Senior Bitcoin adviser to Bukele Max Keiser posted his view, saying: “President Bukele hits the ground running in new term with new legislation establishing a Bitcoin Bank.”

The proposal has emerged only two weeks after Bukele was sworn in for another five-year presidential term following a landslide election win. Cointelegraph was first to report this story.

Still, Bukele’s embrace of Bitcoin has been a bumpy ride since El Salvador become the first country to make it legal tender in 2021.

His soaring popularity stems mostly from a crackdown on the country’s infamous criminal factions, Mara Salvatrucha 13 and Barrio 18, which held the nation in their grip for decades, DL News has reported.

Once dubbed the “homicide capital of the world,” El Salvador now has a murder rate on par with Canada, according to recent government data.