El Salvador’s Bitcoin Bet Pays Off as BTC Crosses $41K

El Salvador President Nayib Bukele said the country’s Bitcoin (BTC) investment is in profit as the price of the asset crossed the $40,000 mark for the first time in almost two years.

The Central American country started buying BTC in September 2021, with its stash currently worth over $130 million.

El Salvador BTC Portfolio Sees Profit

President Nayib Bukele revealed via X on Dec. 4 that El Salvador’s Bitcoin investment is “in the black,” stating that the country’s BTC portfolio has a net profit of $3.6 million, following the asset’s recent price surge to over $42,000.

El Salvador’s #Bitcoin investments are in the black!

After literally thousands of articles and hit pieces that ridiculed our supposed losses, all of which were calculated based on #Bitcoin’s market price at the time…

With the current #Bitcoin market price, if we were to sell… pic.twitter.com/gvl2GfQMfb

— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) December 4, 2023

Despite the country’s Bitcoin portfolio sitting in profit, Bukele stressed that El Salvador will continue to hold, adding that the nation will maintain its “long-term strategy” amid BTC’s volatile price swings.

“Of course, we have no intention of selling; that has never been our objective. We are fully aware that the price will continue to fluctuate in the future, this doesn’t affect our long-term strategy”

El Salvador made headlines in 2021 both in the crypto and mainstream media, after Bukele announced that Bitcoin was a legal tender in the country and started purchasing the crypto asset.

In November 2022, the President revealed that the Central American country will begin making daily BTC purchases. So far, El Salvador’s Bitcoin investment is valued at approximately $131,000,000, according to a chart by Bukele.

Bukele Wants Naysayers to Acknowledge BTC Investment Gains

Meanwhile, El Salvador’s Bitcoin bet has not been without criticisms. Global organizations like the International Monetary Fund (IMF) disapproved of the country’s move, claiming that legalizing BTC was a huge risk to financial stability and market integrity.

In the United States, two Senators proposed a bipartisan bill, part of which seeks to examine El Salvador’s technical ability to curtail financial risks associated with crypto, individuals, and businesses and also monitor how its BTC law affects the country and the US.

Notably, Bukele has consistently lashed out at critics, even going as far as telling the US to mind their business. In his latest tweet, the President did not hesitate to call out “naysayers” who, according to him, were quick to report on the losses El Salvador suffered on its Bitcoin investment, and asked them to also report on the country’s current gains.

“Nonetheless, it is important that the naysayers and the authors of those hit pieces take back their statements. The responsible thing to do would be for them to issue retractions, offer apologies, or, at the very least, acknowledge that El Salvador is now yielding a profit, just as they repeatedly reported that we were incurring losses.”