El Salvador, the first government to legalise bitcoin, acquired 410 bitcoin for $15 million on Friday, President Nayib Bukele said on Twitter.
Bukele, who also purchased bitcoin during a September drop, claimed Friday in an emoji-filled tweet that the nation had acquired the currency “very cheaply.”
El Salvador now owns at least 1,801 bitcoin, which is presently worth at around $66 million, Bloomberg said. Bitcoin’s value continued to fall in the aftermath of Bukele’s statement, hitting a low of $35,422 before somewhat recovering to $36,653.56 Friday evening, down 46.72 percent from its November high of $68,789.63.
El Salvador became the first nation to recognise bitcoin as legal cash in September, installing bitcoin ATMs and mandating companies to accept it. Bukele then vowed to develop a tax-free Bitcoin City on the Salvadoran coast, to expedite citizenship for specific blockchain investors, and to establish geothermal bitcoin mining facilities in the Central American nation, potentially transforming it into a worldwide crypto mining hotspot. El Salvador’s other official currency is the United States dollar.
If adopting bitcoin as a currency improves El Salvador’s economy, “it’s game over for FIAT,” tweeted Bukele, who defines himself on Twitter as the “CEO of El Salvador.”
Though it elevated Bukele to the status of a crypto hero, El Salvador’s acceptance of bitcoin as legal cash sparked huge protests from Salvadorans who felt that the move harmed ordinary people while benefitting large investors. In September, Al Jazeera reported, anti-bitcoin demonstrators raised placards and torched tyres in front of San Salvador’s Supreme Court building until they were removed by heavily armed police. Meanwhile, El Salvador’s national debt has surpassed 50% of GDP. Moody’s lowered the country’s credit rating to Caa1 in July, indicating a very high credit risk. El Salvador’s bitcoin transactions, according to Moody’s, exacerbate the country’s credit risk. El Salvador is requesting a $1.3 billion loan from the International Monetary Fund, which previously cautioned against the country adopting bitcoin as its official currency.
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