Arkham Intelligence data shows the El Salvadoran government has stayed on course for its “1 Bitcoin a day” investment strategy, accumulating a total of 5.955K BTC on its portfolio. Bitcoin’s price moved past the $100,000 mark in the early hours of Thursday, an event that put El Salvador President Nayib Bukele in a “delightful” mood.
According to blockchain data tracker firm Arkham Intelligence, El Salvador is holding Bitcoin (BTC) worth over $610.5 million. The country, which became the world’s first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender in 2021, has seen its cryptocurrency portfolio surge in value as BTC broke through the $100,000 barrier on December 5.
Bitcoin’s rally to six figures comes after a year of sustained growth and favorable macroeconomic factors, coupled with Donald Trump’s recent US presidential elections victory. As of the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading a little over $101,000, representing a year-to-date gain of over 117%.
Bitcoin’s impact on El Salvador’s portfolio
El Salvador’s government, which has been buying Bitcoin currently holds 5,995 BTC acquired at an average price of $45,297 per coin. As per BTC’s current valuation, the country’s holdings are worth over $613 million, up substantially by 126.18% from their initial investment of $269.7 million.
President Bukele took to social media platform X to celebrate this achievement, posting a portfolio chart that showed unrealized profits of over $333.5 million. Tech mogul Elon Musk replied to the post, calling El Salvador’s government Bitcoin investment “impressive.” Bukele responded with a photo captioned, “it ain’t much, but its honest work.”
El Salvador’s Bitcoin experiment began in September 2021. At the time, President Bukele faced significant skepticism from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) by announcing BTC as a legal tender. On November 17, 2022, Bukele proceeded to reveal the country’s plan to purchase one Bitcoin daily through a social media post.
Earlier this year, the IMF urged El Salvador to enhance transparency in its Bitcoin adoption strategy. It emphasized the importance of implementing additional measures to address potential risks tied to their monetary policy, believing BTC would cause dire long-term economic implications because of its price volatility nature.
The government initially was highly criticized by financial watchdogs for investing public funds into a volatile asset. However, Bukele remained steadfast on his bullish bitcoin sentiments, arguing that Bitcoin would promote financial inclusion, attract tourism, and reduce remittance costs.
Over the years, El Salvador introduced several initiatives to bolster its adoption of Bitcoin. These include the development of “Bitcoin City,” a tax-free zone powered by geothermal energy from the country’s volcanoes, and the issuance of “Volcano Bonds” to fund infrastructure projects. Despite challenges, including fluctuating Bitcoin prices and public protests, Bukele’s administration has maintained its commitment to Bitcoin.
Bhutan’s parallel Bitcoin strategy
El Salvador’s Bitcoin success story has inspired other nations, including Bhutan, which recently disclosed its Bitcoin mining operations leveraging hydropower. Like El Salvador, Bhutan aims to use Bitcoin to diversify its economy and enhance its financial independence.
Arkham monitoring reveals that the Bhutan government was in possession of 12.211K BTC, valued at a total of $1.25B, at press time.
In September, Bhutan’s Bitcoin holdings surpassed 13,000 BTC, valued at approximately $750 million at the time. A month later, the government sold Bitcoins worth $33.5 million via cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
Bhutan ranks fifth globally in BTC holdings, trailing only the United States, China, the United Kingdom, and Ukraine. While the country’s current BTC holdings are significantly smaller than the reserves held by the United States, China, and the United Kingdom, Bhutan’s holdings exceed those of El Salvador.
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