Argentina receives officials from El Salvador to talk about Bitcoin

Argentina and El Salvador are materializing an alliance that has bitcoin (BTC) at the center of the conversation. The National Securities Commission of Argentina (CNV) and the National Commission of Digital Assets of El Salvador (CNAD) held, on Thursday, May 23, a meeting to exchange experiences regarding the regulation and adoption of BTC.

Roberto Silva and Patricia Boedo, president and vice president of the Argentine CNV, respectively, held a working meeting with Juan Carlos Reyes, president of the National Commission for Digital Assets (CNAD) of El Salvador.

The meeting served for Argentine officials to learn more details about the Salvadoran experience regarding bitcoin adoption as legal tender. Silva praised the leadership of the Central American country in this matter and raised the possibility of strengthening ties.

“El Salvador has emerged as one of the leading countries, not only in the use of bitcoin, but has also stood out in the world of crypto assets. It has created a specific commission, the National Commission for Digital Assets (CNAD), and therefore has experience that is very valuable for the CNV at this time,” said the president of the CNV.

And he added: “We want to strengthen ties with the Republic of El Salvador and therefore, we are going to explore the possibility of signing collaboration agreements with them.”

Thursday was not the first approach that both governments have had in relation to bitcoin and its adoption. In March the vice president of the CNV visited El Salvador to participate in technical meetings and learn about key elements of the regulation.

On the Salvadoran side, Reyes stated that Argentina has been a pioneer in technology and that the CNV understands and “wants to work with the industry efficiently and create appropriate regulation.”

Bitcoin regulation in Argentina

Currently, Argentina is advancing on different fronts to take bitcoin regulation to another level. In April, CriptoNoticias reported that the CNV, the Financial Information Unit (UIF) and the Argentine Fintech Chamber held a meeting to implement new regulations for bitcoin exchanges.

Previously, in March of this year, the CNV confirmed that it would regulate exchanges and that would perform supervisory functionsregulation, inspection, supervision and sanction of service providers with virtual assets.

This last decision sparked a firestorm of criticism among local bitcoiners who alleged that the new legislation “seeks to discourage individual custody of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies,” as expressed by Adam Dubove, director of the Ichimoku Fibonacci company.

Unlike Argentina, El Salvador, through President Nayib Bukele, sees bitcoin as an opportunity to achieve economic freedom. In October 2022 Bukele reflected:

“El Salvador is the epicenter of Bitcoin adoption, and, therefore, of economic freedom, financial sovereignty, resistance to censorship, unconfiscatable wealth and the end of kingmakers, their printing, devaluation and reallocation of the wealth from the majorities to interest groups, the elites, the oligarchs, and those in the shadows behind them, pulling their strings.”

Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador

With the rapprochement of Argentina and El Salvador, the possibility opens up that the regulation is closer to being “friendly” and not so much restrictive in terms of its adoption, development and business opportunities.