El Salvador, the first country to introduce legal Bitcoin and adopt a Bitcoin investment strategy for its national treasury, has now raised over $400 million in Bitcoin.
President Nayib Bukele led the effort to pass a law making Bitcoin a legal tender in 2021. Since then, the country has purchased Bitcoin through daily and periodic purchases that Bukele announced on X.
In addition to direct purchases, El Salvador is also generating Bitcoin through a passport program, converting Bitcoin into dollars for businesses, and mining Bitcoin, all of which demonstrates the country's commitment to building a circular Bitcoin economy.
Bukele recently revealed the government's Bitcoin address for the first time to the public. Bukele stated that Bitcoin is kept in a state-run “piggy bank”-style cold storage vault. He also stated that they will buy one bitcoin every day until “bitcoin becomes unaffordable with fiat currencies.”
El Salvador has purchased more than 5,700 Bitcoins so far at an average price of around $42,700. With Bitcoin recently rising above $70,000, the country's holdings have risen by nearly $80 million.
The president believes that Bitcoin will help boost El Salvador's economy through tourism, remittances and foreign investment. The fixed supply of Bitcoin against the US dollar is also expected to rise over time.
Bukele has repeatedly promoted Bitcoin on X, saying: “When the Bitcoin market price was low, [critics] He literally wrote thousands of articles about our supposed losses.” Now, with Bitcoin rising, the investment is starting to pay off.
Although initially controversial, Bukele's play on Bitcoin now seems prescient. If adoption continues to accelerate globally, huge early investment in El Salvador could one day make it the world's first Bitcoin-rich country.
