With the arrival of José Antonio Kast to the presidency of Chile, on March 11, the debate on the adoption of bitcoin (BTC) in the State returns to the surface. And although the president focuses his first hours in office on border security and administrative austerity, his history of statements reveals a position that, at the time, challenged the country’s traditional financial conservatism.
The basis of this interest dates back to September 2021. This happened in the middle of the election campaign, when Kast used its digital platforms to question the current model and propose an adoption of bitcoinexplicitly citing the case of El Salvador.
At that time, the current president linked the use of the currency created by Satoshi Nakamoto with his agenda of reducing the state apparatus. On September 8, 2021, Kast openly proposed on the social network X: «What if we massify the use of bitcoin in Chile? What do you think of what Nayib Bukele did in El Salvador?
Days later, on September 12, insisted on the inevitability of technological changehighlighting that the legislative task was not to ignore the phenomenon, but rather «to adapt our system to reduce risks and increase its potential.»
What do you think about advancing technologies based on blockchain to decentralize the central government, end the monopoly and cost overruns in the State?
José Antonio Kast, September 2021.
Later in the discussion, the NGO Bitcoin Chile intervened to specify that, before any state deployment, the absolute priority should be the digital and financial literacy of the population. With this, it established a necessary counterpoint on the viability of its implementation.
Kast’s position is based on his ideological platform of economic freedom and reduction of state intervention. And his vision of approaching digital assets aligned him with the current of other leaders in Latin America who have seen bitcoin as a strategic ally to challenge financial centralism.
In addition to Bukele, Javier Milei, president of Argentina since December 2023, represents another prominent example of regional leaders with a strongly favorable stance towards bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.
Consistent with his libertarian and anarcho-capitalist ideology, Milei has actively promoted Bitcoin and other digital assets as an alternative to fiat money. However, his government has not implemented the adoption of BTC as legal currency or state reserves, although its image was affected by controversies.
After all, the start of Kast’s mandate, which runs until 2030, shows an agenda dominated by operational urgency. The first presidential decrees focus on the control of irregular migrationexhaustive audits in ministries and the reconstruction of areas affected by forest fires. This means that, for now, it leaves the possible adoption of bitcoin and the definitions of the digital economy outside of official announcements.
Any move towards the adoption of crypto assets in Chile will have to confront the Central Bank’s tradition of caution. This is because the institution has historically maintained a posture of surveillance. Although it does not prohibit the use of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies, it does issue recurring warnings about price volatility and risks to national financial stability, as reported by NoticiasVE.
Therefore, the reappearance of Kast’s statements coincides with a period of greater global regulatory scrutiny of the sector. In this scenario, the implementation of A pro-bitcoin agenda in Chile will depend on whether the Executive decides to return to its campaign convictions or if, given the current economic complexity, it opts for the continuity of the orthodox monetary policy that has characterized the country in recent decades.