El Salvador’s Bitcoin (BTC) Position is Up $72M But President Stays Committed to HODL

When El Salvador’s President announced the nation’s first bitcoin purchase in September 2021, many experts readily dismissed the leader, with some calling the whole idea “highly dubious” and “economically dangerous.” At the time of El Salvador’s first purchase, Bitcoin was trading for $51,769. Over time, the flagship cryptocurrency has been through a lot, but the recent market rally has been great for those who stayed invested, like El Salvador.

In a recent tweet echoing similar sentiments, President Bukele stated that the country’s bitcoin was up 40%. Since that tweet, bitcoin’s price has significantly gone up, and the position is estimated to be up almost 60% with a profit of over $72 million. Yet, despite the windfall, Bukele has stated that El Salvador will continue to hold its bitcoins and not sell them.

Summary of El Salvador’s Bitcoin Purchases

According to nayibtracker.com, the largest purchase by the nation was on May 9, 2022, when 500 bitcoins were acquired at an average price of $30,744 each, totaling around $15.37 million. Those 500 bitcoins are currently valued at nearly $34 million, a 121% increase from the purchase price.

Another major purchase occurred on Jan. 21, 2022, with El Salvador buying 410 bitcoins at $36,585.37 per coin for $15 million. Those bitcoins now exceed $27.8 million, an 85.7% profit on that investment.

Under President Nayib Bukele’s bitcoin accumulation strategy, the Central American nation purchased 2,854 bitcoins from September 2021 to November 2022 at an average cost of $42,539.32 per coin, spending around $121.4 million. With current prices, those holdings are valued at nearly $194 million, representing an unrealized gain of about $72.5 million or 59.7%.

Bitcoin Inches Towards All-Time High

Bitcoin, the world’s largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, continued its rally on Tuesday, hitting a new annual high of $68,800.30 at the time of writing. The digital asset’s price surged $2,529.16, or 3.82%, from the previous day’s close amid sustained investor interest. Bitcoin’s total market value is now approximately $1.352 trillion, with around 19.65 million coins in circulation. Trading activity remained robust, with roughly $76.58 billion worth of Bitcoin changing hands over the past 24 hours.

The cryptocurrency has seen immense volatility this year, trading within a range of $19,628.25 to $68,800.30 over the past 52 weeks as it gained mainstream adoption from investors and companies alike.

Do you think other countries will follow El Salvador’s direction? Let us know in the comments below.

Disclaimer: The author does not hold or have a position in any securities discussed in the article.