Three years ago, on September 7, 2021, the country of El Salvador shocked the world when its president Nayib Bukele announced that the country would be adopting Bitcoin as legal tender. What’s more, the country also began buying BTC to augment its reserves, growing those stockpiles over the years. Now that the country is three years into its BTC bet, let’s take a look at how it’s been doing so far and whether this investment was a wise decision in the long run.
Bitcoin Resources in El Salvador
El Salvador’s first Bitcoin purchase, according to President Nayib Bukele, took place on September 6, 2021, the day before the announcement of the adoption of BTC as legal tender. At that time, the country bought 400 BTC at an average price of $46,811, which was worth $18.724 million at the time.
Since then, however, the Bitcoin vault has grown significantly, with many enormous purchases following the initial purchase. Just one year after the initial purchase, the country had amassed a BTC stash above the 2,300 BTC level. However, it did not stop there, as more Bitcoin purchases were soon to follow.
At the time of writing, the country of El Salvador held a total of 5,867 BTC. Nayib Tracker website shows that the average cost of this Bitcoin stash is $43,884, and considering that the price of BTC at the time of writing was over $55,000, this means that the country is seeing impressive profits from its holdings.
Data on the website shows that the country currently has a profit of $34.55 million from Bitcoin purchases. This means a 25.88% profit from BTC purchases over the past three years. Furthermore, its BTC stash makes El Salvador the third-largest government holder of Bitcoin in the world. According to data According to Arkham Intelligence, the US government has 203,238.74 BTC and the UK government has 61,245.01 BTC.
El Salvador does not give way
Despite the noticeable profits from his Bitcoin holdings, President Nayib Bukele has revealed that the country has no plans to sell its BTC. The president has decided not to look at his BTC holdings in terms of dollar value, but rather on a one-to-one scale – meaning that 1 BTC is equal to 1 BTC regardless of the dollar value.
When it comes to adopting Bitcoin as legal tender, the president has publicly stated that residents have not been forced to adopt the cryptocurrency. The country continues to operate with two legal tenders – the US dollar and Bitcoin, and residents can apply the one that is convenient for them.
Nevertheless, El Salvador remains committed to its Bitcoin mission. It has launched its own BTC monitoring website which allows users to track a range of BTC metrics. Users can also track the country’s BTC holdings on this website.
Featured image created with Dall.E, chart from Tradingview.com
