Welcome to Latam Insights, a compendium of the most relevant crypto and economic news from Latin America over the past week. In this week’s edition of Latam Insights, El Salvador wants to buy DOJ’s bitcoin at a discount, Chilean lawmakers plan to establish a bitcoin bench, and El Salvador’s bitcoin adoption might be spearheading the tourism boon.
Latam Insights: El Salvador’s DOJ Bitcoin Watch, Chile’s Bitcoin Bench
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El Salvador Aims to Purchase DOJ’s Seized Bitcoin at a Discount
Market participants, including nation-states like El Salvador, are awaiting the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) next steps regarding the fate of the bitcoin seized as part of the Silk Road market takedown. On social media, President Nayib Bukele recently hinted at potentially acquiring some of these coins for his country, taking advantage of the recent market slump to acquire more BTC.
Answering a post reporting on a federal judge greenlighting the sale of these assets, Bukele stated:
Maybe we’ll all get the chance to buy bitcoin at a discount!
Even with the recent pullback in BTC prices, Bukele has deepened its strategic bitcoin reserve strategy, ramping up the acquisitions. The Salvadoran Bitcoin Office reported a new purchase of 11 bitcoin on January 8, showing that Bukele took advantage of the price pull and bought the dip.
Chile Quiere Bitcoin: Legislators Rally Around Strategic Bitcoin Reserve Proposal
Chile, a country not particularly known for its cryptocurrency adoption, is preparing to become more bitcoin-friendly in 2025. Gael Yeomans, a Chilean deputy, has proposed creating a bitcoin bench in the Chilean Congress, a group focused on promoting bitcoin research and introducing bitcoin and crypto regulations.
Over 20 lawmakers have also participated in meetings exploring this initiative. This group’s goal is to put Chile at the forefront of adoption and regulation in Latam and the world.
Andres Villagran, one of the idea’s supporters in Chile, was involved in setting up this group with the help of Satoshi Action Fund’s CEO Dennis Porter.
This group presented the idea of a strategic bitcoin reserve to some deputies in 2024 and prompted the idea of implementing it in the country.
Villagran clarified that the group’s action will continue this year, pushing for executing bitcoin initiatives as part of the current administration’s actions.
Santander: El Salvador’s Bitcoin Adoption Fuels Tourism Boom
Santander US Capital Markets LLC, a division of the global financial giant Banco Santander, published a report on Jan. 10 highlighting El Salvador’s remarkable tourism growth, which has been closely tied to the country’s embrace of bitcoin. Banco Santander, headquartered in Spain and one of the world’s largest banking groups, operates through its various subsidiaries to provide investment insights.
The report, shared on social media platform X by Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele and the Bitcoin Office, emphasizes how El Salvador’s innovative cryptocurrency policies have driven record-breaking tourism numbers. The Bitcoin Office, a government initiative tasked with promoting bitcoin and blockchain adoption in the country, declared on X:
El Salvador is Bitcoin Country and Santander says the tourism numbers prove it!
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