El Salvador has made another big move. This Central American country recently announced that it will incorporate Bitcoin and artificial intelligence into its national strategic policies.

Let's start with the numbers: by early 2026, the Salvadoran treasury has already accumulated 7,517 Bitcoins, with a book value of over $660 million. This is not a joke; it’s a real strategic reserve of gold and silver.

How will they spend this money? The government plans to leverage surplus local geothermal energy to build data centers and AI special zones, providing tax-free environments for automation industries and decentralized financial services. In simple terms, they aim to attract tech companies by leveraging their energy advantage.

Policy adjustments are also underway. El Salvador amended its legislation to change Bitcoin from a mandatory to a voluntary legal tender, while ensuring that taxes are still calculated in USD. This move may seem like a step back, but in fact, it secured $1.4 billion in funding support from the International Monetary Fund — that’s the real bargaining chip.

Education is also not left behind. In cooperation with tech companies like Genius Act and xAI, the country is rolling out AI-driven education programs to cultivate local tech talent.

With this combination of strategies, El Salvador is positioning itself as a testing ground for crypto and AI. For the development of the Bitcoin ecosystem and DeFi, it adds another policy-friendly national-level experimental lab.