President Nayib Bukele stated in a Monday tweet that the nation bought the dip, adding 500 bitcoin to its coffers. This is El Salvador’s biggest coin purchase since it first added the digital asset to its balance sheet in September 2021 — the same month it became the first nation to accept bitcoin as legal tender beside the U.S. dollar.
Bitcoin has dropped more than 8% in the previous 24 hours, and it is approximately 55% below its November record high. According to the president’s tweet, El Salvador acquired bitcoin for an average price of $30,744. According to Bloomberg, the country’s total reserve is 2,301 BTC or almost $71.7 million.
El Salvador just bought the dip! 🇸🇻
500 coins at an average USD price of ~$30,744 🥳#Bitcoin
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) May 9, 2022
President Bukele has been more determined in his bitcoin bet as the crypto market plummets and the adoption of bitcoin came up against criticism. The International Monetary Fund has criticised Bukele’s bitcoin experiment for months. In January, the IMF pressured El Salvador to abandon bitcoin as legal tender. IMF Directors emphasised that the use of bitcoin poses significant risks to financial stability, financial integrity, consumer protection, and fiscal contingent liabilities.
Several IMF directors had been concerned about the risks related to bitcoin-backed bonds, referring to Bukele’s desire to raise $1 billion through a “Bitcoin Bond” in cooperation with Blockstream, a digital assets infrastructure firm. According to Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya, this bond offering was suspended in March owing to unfavourable market circumstances.
El Salvador’s adoption of bitcoin came together with the development of Chivo, a national virtual wallet that delivers fee-free transactions and facilitates fast
