El Salvador, the first country in the world to legalize Bitcoin as a means of payment, is making good money while Bitcoin (BTC) sets one record after another.
El Salvador's strategic investment in Bitcoin (BTC) has finally paid off. The country's President Nayib Bukele said that against the backdrop of the bull market for cryptocurrencies, all of El Salvador's investments in BTC brought a profit of $84 million.
El Salvador and Bitcoin: a story of friendship
El Salvador has been actively buying crypto since 2021: in total, the country’s crypto portfolio has already accumulated 2,861 BTC at an average price of $42,599 per coin. At the current Bitcoin exchange rate, the total value of savings has increased by 69% and exceeded $206 million.
However, the state's profit depends not only on the market value of BTC – it is generated through several key revenue streams also associated with the first cryptocurrency.
Other crypto-focused innovations from El Salvador include:
- country passport program,
- BTC to USD conversion services for local businesses,
- government bitcoin mining,
- payment for government services using bitcoins.
El Salvador Bitcoin portfolio. Source: Nayib Tracker
El Salvador actively encourages investment in Bitcoin. To this end, a new migration law was adopted in December 2023. Now foreigners who donate BTC for the development of the country receive El Salvadoran citizenship in a simplified and accelerated format.
Does everyone agree with Bukele?
At the beginning of his career, Nayib Bukele was criticized a lot. In particular, the reason for skepticism was his strategy of buying Bitcoin, which many dissenters called unprofitable, especially during a bear market. However, the opinion of skeptics did not stop the president.
At the beginning of last February, Bukele was successfully re-elected to a new term and retained the presidency, gaining more than 85% of the vote. This demonstrates the level of popular support for the current head of El Salvador and his initiatives.
However, not everything is so rosy: a sociological survey among Salvadorans conducted in January of this year surprised with its results. For the entire 2023, only 12% of the country's population used Bitcoin as a means of payment at least once.
Source: Cryptocurrency
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