El Salvador's two main opposition parties, ARENA and FMLN, have formally named their candidates for the February 2027 presidential election, setting up a direct challenge to President Nayib Bukele's third-term campaign. Both tickets have criticized Bukele's Bitcoin strategy as a fiscal failure, but neither has proposed a rival crypto policy. The election will test whether Bukele's dominant popularity — his approval rating recently topped 94% in one national poll — can withstand a unified opposition push.
Opposition tickets take shape
ARENA, which holds only two seats in the Legislative Assembly, put forward its first all-female presidential ticket. Maytee Iraheta is the candidate, with a running mate yet to be formally announced. FMLN, which has had no legislative seats since 2024, also named a candidate but did not release a detailed platform. Both parties have focused their attacks on Bukele's handling of the economy, particularly the Bitcoin experiment. Yet neither has offered a concrete alternative — a gap that could matter in a country where only 2.2% of Salvadorans consider Bitcoin Bukele's biggest failure.
Bitcoin's diminished role
Bitcoin is no longer mandatory legal tender in El Salvador. A $1.4 billion IMF loan agreement in February 2025 removed the requirement for businesses to accept it. Still, the National Bitcoin Office has continued buying roughly one Bitcoin per day, bringing state holdings to about 7,730 BTC as of July 27, 2025. The government also boosted its gold reserves in January 2025. Bitcoin traded near $65,300 as of this article's date, roughly half its October 2025 record above $126,000. The decline earlier in 2025 erased nearly $300 million from state holdings.
What the next administration faces
The IMF has repeatedly warned that the Bitcoin push carries fiscal and governance risks and has not measurably improved financial inclusion. Whoever wins in February 2027 will decide whether the daily Bitcoin accumulation continues or stops. Some analysts tie Bitcoin's next major move to pending U.S. regulation rather than El Salvador's domestic politics. For now, the opposition has a clear line of attack — but no plan B.
