Crypto businesses in El Salvador are hopeful that a Donald Trump presidency will soften banking resistance to the industry, making it easier to operate as the world’s largest economy moves toward greater crypto adoption. This would mark a stark shift from recent years when stricter policies left many firms struggling to maintain access to traditional banking services.
Most traditional US banks have mostly steered clear of digital asset firms in recent years, citing a lack of regulatory clarity. Companies in the crypto space have repeatedly denounced a deliberate effort from regulators in the country to choke them off the traditional financial system, a claim policymakers deny.
Yet even in El Salvador—the world’s Bitcoin trailblazer, which passed its Bitcoin Law in 2021 and has been steadily adding BTC (BTC) to its national reserves—crypto firms claim they are still struggling to access traditional banking services, facing many of the same hurdles seen in other countries despite the government’s pro-crypto stance.
“The big problem with the crypto world is bank (access),” said Eloísa Cardenas, Chief Innovation Officer at Monetae, an El Salvador-based exchange, in an interview with Cointelegraph.
“In El Salvador, there is a law, right? You say, ‘Oh, it’s super pro-crypto,’ but the banks won’t open an account for you. I’m telling you, even when you’re fully regulated and based in El Salvador, the local bank won’t give you access out of fear for its relationship with (US) correspondent banks. It’s ridiculous.”
While there have been exceptions, many US banks have remained cautious about serving crypto businesses, wary of regulatory scrutiny and the high costs of risk management. But crypto firms are optimistic that the tides are turning for the industry, as leaders in the US push for clearer regulations and stronger partnerships between traditional finance and the growing digital asset space.
“With Trump’s arrival, it’s expected that operations in the financial system will loosen up a bit,” Cadenas said. “It won’t be as restrictive as before.”
Greater banking acceptance…
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