US Senate Introduces Bill to Enact Sanctions on El Salvador's Bitcoin Usage in Human Rights Violations

The bill, titled the “El Salvador Accountability Act of 2025,” aims for the Senate to impose sanctions on the executive branch of El Salvador’s government for engaging in human rights violations involving U.S. citizens. The act also requires a report detailing the use of bitcoin in alleged acts of corruption.

El Salvador’s Government Targeted by US Senate for Alleged Bitcoin-Linked Corruption

El Salvador’s government and its adoption of bitcoin are again in the spotlight. In June, Senators Chris Van Hollen, Tim Kaine, and Alex Padilla introduced the “El Salvador Accountability Act of 2025” to the U.S. Senate, a bill focused on enacting sanctions on the executive branch of the country involved in corruption acts to “ship people to El Salvador in violation of their constitutional rights.”

The bill proposes to enact sanctions on President Nayib Bukele, some of the ministers of his administration, and any foreign people that has engaged in “gross violations of internationally recognized human rights,” or have accepted “taxpayer dollars, to deprive individuals residing in the United States of their rights.”

The bill hints at the involvement of bitcoin funds in these exchanges, probing the utilization of these resources for these alleged human rights violations. To this end, if passed, the bill would encompass the preparation of a report by the Secretary of State linking El Salvador’s President and his administration to the use of cryptocurrency “as a mechanism for gross corruption, graft, and sanctions evasion.”

The report should contain an estimate of the funds used by El Salvador to buy bitcoin, the addresses and exchanges used to this end, and a list of people with access to these bitcoin reserves. In addition, the Secretary of State should assess if bitcoin is being used to sidestep financial sanctions and examine the gaps that make bitcoin useful to enable corruption activities.

On the bill, Senator Van Hollen declared:

President Bukele and the Government of El Salvador are colluding with the Trump Administration, taking American taxpayer dollars to imprison people as part of a scheme to violate their constitutional rights.

Bukele disregarded his involvement in these actions, claiming on social media that Democrats were “just salty.”

Read more: El Salvador Passes IMF Review With Flying Colors Despite Its Bitcoin Purchases