Bitcoin reached a new all-time high (ATH) on Monday, surpassing $72,000 for the first time. While the entire ecosystem and its investors are showing continued enthusiasm, a high-profile figure is certainly celebrating: El Salvador President Nayib Bukele, who has invested state funds in the cryptocurrency, has seen profits that have now reached almost 70% of the initial investment.
El Salvador, which adopted the U.S. dollar as its official currency in 2001, drew attention from the financial market again in September 2021 after Bukele announced the adoption of Bitcoin as the country's second legal tender and purchases of the digital asset using state funds.
The country became the world's first to show such confidence in the crypto ecosystem, investing public funds in the purchase of a decentralized and highly volatile currency.
Bukele publicly confirmed twelve purchases with funds from El Salvador between September 2021 and November 2022. Since then, the president announced that El Salvador would buy one Bitcoin per day.
The intention, besides generating profit for the state's funds, was to encourage the population to use the currency, something that has not happened at a large scale despite the government's encouragement. About 88% of Salvadorans never used Bitcoin during 2023, according to a survey conducted by the Institute of Public Opinion at the Central American University.
El Salvador's investments in Bitcoin can be analyzed on a website that Bukele himself has made public in the past. The site allows users to check the timing of purchases, the amounts invested, and the profits obtained at a certain time.
At the time this article is being written, and with the price of Bitcoin slightly above $72,000, El Salvador holds 2,860 bitcoins that the country acquired at a combined cost of $121,809,251, and which are currently valued at a total of $206,466,832.
This represents a profit of 69.5%, equivalent to $84,657,580.
There are many reasons behind Bitcoin's rally, such as the significant influx of institutional money since the approval of Spot Bitcoin ETFs in January, as well as the proximity to the halving, a scheduled event in Bitcoin's ecosystem that will halve miners' rewards.
This event has historically coincided with crypto bull runs, though the ecosystem is highly volatile, and experts recommend being cautious and not succumbing to FOMO, or Fear of Missing Out.
Bukele has pointed out something else this time, as Bitcoin's price marked its first all-time high since 2021. He did so by sharing a meme on X, formerly Twitter, as he is uses to.
The picture he shared shows the difference between 2021 and 2024, highlighting that now state and institutional money is also heavily involved in the crypto ecosystem.
Same same, but different 🙂 pic.twitter.com/6DHbJ0mWSP
— Lina Seiche (@LinaSeiche) March 5, 2024
In the U.S., where Latinos emerge as the most interested demographic in cryptocurrency, former President Donald Trump made statements on Monday that hint at a public endorsement of crypto. He suggested that he would support the industry if re-elected in November.
"There has been a lot of use of [crypto], and I'm not sure that I'd want to take that away at this point," Trump said during an appearance on the CNBC program "Squawk Box" this morning. He also added: "I like staying with the dollar. I hate when countries go off the dollar."
For now, the president of El Salvador continues to use his X account to joke about the good performance of Bitcoin investments. On Sunday, for example, he posted a meme of a skeleton sitting in front of a computer, alluding to the response of his detractors that he is still waiting for.
© 2024 Latin Times. All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.
