The crypto market especially bitcoin has continued to plummet for the last four days and has now fallen below $31k, its lowest since July 2021. El Salvador, popularly known as the Bitcoin nation has now utilised the current bear of the crypto market and bought 500 Bitcoin at an average price of $30,744 each.
The bitcoin nation president, Nayib Bukele who made the announcement on Monday stated that the country has added another $15.5 million worth of bitcoin to its balance sheet. The country now holds 2,301 Bitcoin (as part of its reserve), worth about $73 million at current prices. El Salvador last purchased Bitcoin in January, when it bought 410 Bitcoin for an average price of $36,585.
El Salvador just bought the dip! 🇸🇻
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) May 9, 2022
500 coins at an average USD price of ~$30,744 🥳#Bitcoin
El Salvador, which had since last year adopted Bitcoin alongside the U.S. dollar as a legal tender since September last year has been purchasing bitcoin periodically. The country purchased 420 BTC in October, 100 BTC in November, 171 BTC in December, and 410 BTC in January.
Amid all this development, most Salvadoreans are not as enthusiastic about Bitcoin as their president is. It was estimated earlier in the year that the country's total bitcoin holdings have lost more than $30 million in value.
However, so as to encourage more crypto users, the country had set up a network of Bitcoin ATMs and had also launched a bitcoin e-wallet called “Chivo” with a sign-up bonus of $30 in Bitcoin - with all the efforts put into place to make crypto attractive, most Salvadoreans have ditched Bitcoin.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has bemoaned Bukele’s bitcoin experiment, stressing that there are large risks associated with the use of bitcoin on financial stability, financial integrity, and consumer protection, as well as the associated fiscal contingent liabilities.
