- Presidents from El Salvador and the United States have become two of the biggest Bitcoin proponents this decade.
- The two leaders – Trump and Bukele – met at the Oval Office earlier this week, with some in the crypto community hoping a Bitcoin discussion would be on the cards.
- However, crypto was snubbed from talks as immigration and trade tariffs dominated the meeting.
If Donald Trump is an ally to Bitcoin, El Salvadorian President Nayib Bukele is basically the industry’s Batman.
El Salvador and Bukele burst onto the scene in 2021, when it became one of the first nations to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in an attempt to combat inflation.
The controversial leader, who has been accused of human rights violations during an extended State of Emergency, met with Trump earlier this week in the US White House.
Considering the duo’s affinity for digital assets – especially Bitcoin – there was some hope among the community it would be a topic for discussion.
So, what did the two polarising figures discuss during their meeting?
Tariffs and Immigration Pave the Way, Bitcoin Ignored
Unfortunately (or perhaps fortunately?) for crypto fans, Bitcoin was reportedly not mentioned at all during the discussion.
Instead, as one might expect, the major topic has been trade – hardly shocking, given the decisions made by the Trump administration in its first few months of power.
The US President made his thoughts clear on the current economic climate in the immediate aftermath of the meeting:
Tariff is the most beautiful word in the dictionary… well after God, family, love, relationship.
US President Donald TrumpYet, despite his self-proclaimed unrequited love for tariffs, Trump and Bukele discussed the possibility of…gasp…tariff relief.
Specifically, Trump spoke to the potential of exempting the auto industry from certain parts of Central and Southern America, as the US needed a bit more time before production could become mostly domestic.
The figureheads also discussed immigration, with Trump hoping to transfer some of the United State’s criminals to prisons in El Salvador.
BTC Adoption Flails as Crypto Tax Payments No Longer Allowed
Bitcoin in El Salvador has been around for nearly four years now, but hasn’t quite seen the adoption some have hoped.
While a couple of isolated and tourist towns are renowned for their acceptance of BTC, most in the nation still use fiat currency.
On top of this, President Bukele had to repeal some of the country’s pro-BTC framework to become eligible for a $1.4 billion USD ($2.2 billion AUD) loan from the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
This included disallowing tax payments to be made via digital assets, which was another major blow for adoption in El Salvador.
However, the nation eventually went against IMF guidelines to continue its investment in the digital currency.
El Salvador furthered its position as a safe haven for crypto projects following Tether’s relocation to the country earlier this year.
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