The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, has strengthened the country’s position on Bitcoin, despite a large sell-off in the cryptocurrency market in recent months, Bloomberg reported.
It is noted that the government bought 80 Bitcoins on Thursday at a cost of $19,000 each, according to Bukele’s tweet. That brings the total amount the country has spent on Bitcoin since it was approved as legal tender last year to $106.3 million, according to Bloomberg calculations based on Bukele’s tweets. The value of Bitcoins held by the country now stands at around $45.8 billion, a loss of 57%.
Bitcoin has fallen 63% since the first market Bukele announced in early September last year. The government does not publish data on its cryptocurrency holdings.
“It is clear that President Bukele’s mood is not dampened by Bitcoin’s nearly 60% year-to-date decline,” said John Roque, technical analyst at 22V Research. “We won’t be surprised if it continues to buy when Bitcoin retreats to our $10,000 target.”
El Salvador’s bet on Bitcoin is exacerbating the country’s debt crisis, which is facing large budget deficits, as an $800 million bond matures in January.
Concern about El Salvador’s ability to get the financing it needs to settle debt prompted S&P Global Ratings to downgrade the country to CCC+ this month, a move that put it on par with Ukraine and Argentina.
Source: Capital
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