Bukele Offers Rumble to Follow Tether and Relocate to El Salvador

Nayib Bukele, President of El Salvador, encouraged Rumble CEO Chris Pavolvski to relocate his company to the country. This comes one day after Tether announced its own move.

The Salvadoran government recently softened its maximalist pro-Bitcoin laws and is now seeking more strategic partnerships with leading crypto firms.

Rumble Considers El Salvador

El Salvador is one of the world’s most crypto-friendly governments, and it wants the industry to set up shop there. Just yesterday, Tether announced that it was relocating there after acquiring a new license. Rumble CEO Chris Pavlovski reached out to the firm to discuss the El Salvador move, and Bukele threw out a simple offer in response:

“You should move your headquarters here too,” Bukele said.

In a few years, it does make sense for Rumble to follow Tether to El Salvador. For one thing, Tether is a major investor in the platform, giving it $775 million in the last month.

The two firms are already quite entangled, and a relocation like this could make a lot of sense. Pavlovski also retweeted several enthusiastic posts about Tether’s move.

Moreover, Rumble might be attracted to El Salvador due to its affinity with Bitcoin. Last November, the firm began allocating its cash reserves to Bitcoin, starting with a $20 million investment. El Salvador has been a major Bitcoin purchaser since Bukele made it a legal currency and advocates Bitcoinization worldwide.

El Salvador has been trying to maintain its reputation as a global crypto hub through moves like this Tether deal and offer to Rumble. A month ago, it finally amended its Bitcoin Law after a relatively sweetheart offer from the IMF. This backtracked on its defiant maximalist stance.

The IMF scrutinized the country for years because of its policy of obligating every business to accept Bitcoin payments. After years of pressure, the UN agency has finally persuaded Bukele to ease the policy.

“The IMF admits that a key reason why it’s withholding funds from El Salvador is that it doesn’t like Bitcoin and the fact that the government has added it to its national treasury,” Sam Callahan previously posted on X (formerly Twitter).

Since this deal, El Salvador has made a few public-facing initiatives to maintain its image as a defender of crypto. For example, Bukele teased buying discounted Bitcoin a few days ago, after the US government announced a $6.7 billion sale. After enticing Tether’s business, El Salvador could also greatly benefit from Rumble.

However, a major deal like this will take more than a tongue-in-cheek offer over social media. Business ties to Tether may draw Rumble closer to El Salvador, but a full-fledged relocation is a wholly more complicated process.

In any event, the country is keen to attract capital from the international crypto space, and Bukele is actively seeking out partnerships.