I Told You So Nayib Bukele Gloats As El Salvadors Bitcoin Bet Reaps $108 Million Profit
El Salvador made history in 2021 by becoming the first country to make the worlds largest and oldest cryptocurrency, Bitcoin (BTC), legal tender a move that triggered both skepticism and fascination from observers around the world. Some critics deemed President Nayib Bukeles decision to gamble his countrys economic future on the orange coin as risky.
However, as BTC hits new all-time highs after new all-time highs, El Salvador has reaped huge benefits and Bukele is taking a victory lap.
El Salvadors Bitcoin Stash Is $108 Million In Profit
El Salvadors foray into the Bitcoin market, led by President Nayib Bukele, has yielded a massive windfall, silencing skeptics and raking in significant profits.
The tiny Latin American nation has been dollar-cost-averaging into Bitcoin since 2021, purchasing one Bitcoin every day as part of its adoption plans. Data from SpotOnChain shows El Salvadors Bitcoin stack at just 5,932 tokens. With the current BTC price of $89,544, thats worth approximately $526 million. The country is sitting on over $108 million worth of profit, thanks to Bitcoins face-melting rally.
I told you so, the millennial leader asserted on the X platform.
Notably, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) warned Bukele in late 2022 that Bitcoin could destabilize the countrys economy. The international body has repeatedly pressured El Salvador to reverse its 2021 Bitcoin Law. Later in 2022, Bloomberg argued that El Salvadors Bitcoin gamble had failed terribly.
The huge profit made Bukeles decision net positive in economic terms despite the initial harsh criticism.
Sluggish Bitcoin Adoption
Besides adopting Bitcoin as a legal tender alongside the U.S. dollar and acquiring over $530 million worth of it, the country also introduced a Bitcoin mining operation that utilizes geothermal energy. Moreover, El Salvador has launched a Freedom Visa initiative, which aims to grant residency and citizenship rights to crypto investors willing to invest $1 million in BTC or Tethers USDT in the country.
Impressive as El Salvadors Bitcoin bet might be, the adoption of the flagship crypto among Salvadorans has been rather sluggish. President Bukele has admitted that fewer Salvadorans were using the cryptocurrency than expected. Bitcoin hasnt had the widespread adoption we hoped for, he said in an August interview with TIME.
Meanwhile, crypto enthusiasts still anticipate a wave of countries following El Salvadors bold decision to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender.
Text source: ZyCrypto
