According to Cointelegraph, Time magazine reporter Vera Bergengruen said that Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele's push for Bitcoin to become a legal currency is mainly for public relations effects rather than real economic improvements. Bukele's advisers called the introduction of Bitcoin "a great rebranding" aimed at changing the outside world's perception of El Salvador. Since the announcement of Bitcoin legalization in 2021, the policy has caused confusion, forcing the Bukele team to promote the potential benefits of Bitcoin.
Bukele has proposed building a volcano-powered "Bitcoin city," but the project has never been completed. He has also regularly discussed buying Bitcoin with state funds, and there is currently about $400 million in the "public purse." Bukele will remain president until 2029.