In a recent interview with businessman and popularizer Balaji Srinivasan, Stacey Herbert, director of El Salvador’s National Bitcoin Office, believed the country provides the regulatory clarity needed for both Bitcoin (BTC) and artificial intelligence (AI) to foster innovation and attract global talent.
Herbert emphasized that this strategy not only redefined El Salvador as a Bitcoiner country, but also positioned El Salvador as a Bitcoiner country. A favorable and secure environment for the development of exponential technology. This interview was conducted within the framework of the Network State Conference in New York and published on December 28, 2025.
In this regard, experts explained that the adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender instantly changed El Salvador’s global image. “This was one of the biggest brand change “[The brand identity redesign strategy]is to go from being known as the ‘murder capital of the world’ to becoming ‘Bitcoin country’ in one day, if not the greatest in history,” he said.
However, he emphasized that: BTC adoption was not a simple marketing campaign. To gain the trust of the community, he argued, El Salvador needs to be positioned as a new center for “the world’s most robust financial assets,” assets that serve as the foundation or “tier one” of the global financial system: gold, U.S. Treasuries, and assets created by Satoshi Nakamoto himself.
He also emphasized the relevance of the regulatory framework at a time when other countries, such as the Biden administration and the United States under Gary Gensler, were creating an atmosphere of uncertainty.
“Everyone was looking for regulatory clarity, so I said, ‘Let’s get regulatory clarity,’” Herbert said, adding that Bitcoin merchandise and the rest of the cryptocurrencies securitiesEl Salvador has created a regulatory framework that welcomes experts in their fields. From his point of view, this is what prompted companies like Tether to move their headquarters there, CriptoNoticias reported.
It is worth noting that merchandiseLike gold or oil, it is considered a fungible commodity whose value does not depend on the expectation of profit from the efforts of third parties. instead, safety Investing in a company or project with the expectation that you will receive a profit primarily from the management or work of others.
A model that pursues technological innovation
The head of the National Bitcoin Office also mentioned the convergence of BTC and artificial intelligence, highlighting that both ecosystems share a community of investors, engineers, and miners who use data centers for AI and high-performance computing (HPC) purposes.
In fact, from his point of view, he argued that: The US and European Union are experiencing a scenario of regulatory paralysis regarding AIcreating opportunities for other countries. “The EU fines, regulates, prevents and bans. “It’s very hostile to innovation,” he says.
In contrast, he believes El Salvador has acted quickly to become the first country to have a complete regulatory framework for artificial intelligence. “We have an AI law and we passed a robot law, but the latter regulation is still being written,” he said, adding that the regulation is simple, just 13 pages, and focuses on attracting innovation without excessive bureaucracy.
In that sense, he ruled that these measures, combined with tax incentives, seek to attract digital nomads. startup. “We are introducing a 0% tax on many of the industries that will be established here,” Herbert explained. He further commented that the strategy is an inspiration to other countries in the region, such as Mexico, which is looking to El Salvador rather than the European Union as the standard for regulating the technology sector.
In any case, despite Herbert’s statements regarding regulatory clarity in this area, currently There is still a lot of uncertainty about El Salvador’s actual policy regarding Bitcoin.
This is due to the loan received from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in 2025, as the multilateral institution imposed restrictive conditions on national adoption of BTC. These restricted governments from purchasing more BTC, issuing bonds, or supporting its compulsory use as legal tender.
The IMF reported that in accordance with the agreement, the amount of Bitcoin in El Salvador will remain unchanged. This situation has caused confusion as to whether the country remains true to its buy-every-day strategy, as it claims, or, on the contrary, is trying to hide it.
