Will Trump’s Trade War Bring an Early End to the Bitcoin Bull Market?

In a surprising and bold move, the President of El Salvador has extended an offer to the United States: outsource a portion of its prison system to El Salvador in exchange for a fee. The proposal suggests that El Salvador’s state-of-the-art Centro de Confinamiento del Terrorismo (CECOT)—one of the world’s largest and most secure mega-prisons—could house convicted criminals from the U.S., including U.S. citizens, at a significantly lower cost than maintaining them in American prisons.

A Cost-Effective Solution for the U.S.

The United States has long struggled with overcrowding, high costs, and inefficiencies in its prison system. As of recent estimates, the U.S. spends tens of thousands of dollars per inmate annually, creating a heavy financial burden on federal and state governments. El Salvador’s offer presents a potential alternative—transferring convicted criminals to CECOT for a fee that would be relatively low for the U.S. but financially impactful for El Salvador.

What Makes El Salvador’s Mega-Prison Unique?

CECOT, which was inaugurated in 2023, has gained international attention for its high-security measures, strict conditions, and capacity to hold up to 40,000 inmates. Built primarily to house gang members and organized crime offenders, the facility boasts cutting-edge surveillance systems, around-the-clock security, and extreme measures to prevent escape or internal violence.

By leveraging this infrastructure, El Salvador hopes to generate revenue while maintaining the sustainability of its prison system, which has expanded dramatically due to the country’s aggressive crackdown on crime.

Potential Controversies and Legal Hurdles

While the proposal may appear beneficial from a financial standpoint, it raises significant legal, ethical, and political concerns. Would the U.S. Constitution allow for American citizens to serve their sentences in foreign prisons? How would human rights organizations react, given past criticisms of El Salvador’s harsh prison conditions? And would there be bipartisan political support for outsourcing a core part of the American criminal justice system?

Moreover, prisoner rehabilitation and reintegration efforts in the U.S. differ significantly from El Salvador’s punitive, high-discipline approach, leading to concerns about whether inmates would receive fair treatment and access to rehabilitation programs.

A Precedent for International Prison Outsourcing?

Although this idea may seem radical, prison outsourcing is not unprecedented. Countries such as Norway have previously rented prison space from the Netherlands, and the U.S. itself has used private prisons and even immigration detention outsourcing. However, outsourcing to a foreign nation with a vastly different judicial and correctional system would be uncharted territory for the U.S.

What Comes Next?

It remains to be seen whether the U.S. government will formally consider or respond to this proposal. If accepted, it could mark a historic shift in international prison management—one with profound implications for both nations.

For now, El Salvador has made its offer clear: it is willing to take in convicted criminals from the United States in exchange for a fee that could help sustain its own correctional system. Whether Washington will entertain this proposal or dismiss it as an impractical and controversial idea remains to be seen.

Would you support outsourcing U.S. inmates to El Salvador? Let us know your thoughts.

The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has concluded its investigation into PayPal’s dollar-backed stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD), without taking enforcement action, the company announced. In November 2023, PayPal received a subpoena from the SEC Division of Enforcement regarding PayPal USD stablecoin, requesting documents. In February 2025, the SEC informed PayPal that it was closing the inquiry without enforcement action. This development marks the latest move by the SEC to drop investigations and lawsuits against crypto companies.

Stablecoins, digital tokens pegged to fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar, have become a focal point in the regulatory debate surrounding cryptocurrencies. Regulators are questioning whether these instruments resemble securities or money market funds, leading to increased scrutiny on issuers such as Circle and Tether. PayPal’s involvement in the stablecoin space has attracted attention due to its size, brand recognition, and presence across traditional and digital finance.

The resolution of the SEC’s investigation is a positive development for PayPal as it continues to expand its blockchain-based payment offerings. The company launched PYUSD on Ethereum in August 2023 as a dollar-pegged stablecoin backed by short-term U.S. Treasury bills and dollar deposits, intended for use in peer-to-peer payments, commerce, and decentralized applications.

The news comes at a time when stablecoins are gaining popularity among both crypto and traditional finance companies. Ripple, Mastercard, Visa, Dutch bank ING, and Stripe are among the companies entering the stablecoin market. PayPal recently announced plans to offer U.S. users a 3.7% yield on balances of its PYUSD to compete in the growing stablecoin market. The company’s stablecoin currently has a market cap of $887 million, ranking it sixth among stablecoin issuers according to CoinMarketCap.

Overall, stablecoins are seen as a disruptive innovation in the payments industry, with the potential to revolutionize money transfers similar to how instant messaging transformed cross-border communication. As competition in the stablecoin space heats up, companies are looking to differentiate themselves and attract users by offering attractive yields and innovative features.

The Bitaxe miner, a $150–$300 open-source Bitcoin mining device, achieved a rare solo mining success by finding Bitcoin block #887212, earning 3.17 BTC worth $246,501, as reported by Cointelegraph.

Solo mining with such a low hashrate (3.3 terahashes per second) is highly improbable due to Bitcoin’s competitive network, making this event a significant demonstration of luck in the mining process.

The Bitaxe, distributed by solo.skpool.org, supports Bitcoin’s decentralization by enabling individual miners to participate, countering the dominance of large mining pools.