Share this article

With Market Crash, El Salvador Is Down $52M on Its Bitcoin Bet

The country has made $104 million in investments in the cryptocurrency since it made bitcoin legal tender last September.

Updated May 11, 2023, 4:49 p.m. Published Jun 14, 2022, 6:11 p.m.
jwp-player-placeholder

El Salvador’s bitcoin (BTC) holdings are now valued at $51.5 million, worth about half of the $104 million the country has invested in the cryptocurrency for its treasury in the 10 months since it made bitcoin legal tender last September.

Bitcoin’s price at press time was $22,400.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters

President Nayib Bukele has announced 10 purchases of bitcoin since September 2021, with the country at last check holding 2,301 bitcoins acquired at an average price of $45,171 each.

The country’s most recent buy was on May 9, when Bukele stepped in front of bitcoin’s decline then to purchase 500 coins for $15.3 million, or an average price of $30,744 each. Bukele, to this point, hasn't announced any purchases during the plunge of the past few days.

On Monday, El Salvador Finance Minister Alejandro Zelaya said the bitcoin losses posed “extremely minimal” risk to his country’s fiscal position, noting the amount is less than 0.5% of the government's budget. He also is that any loss for now is unrealized because the country hasn’t sold any of its coins.

More For You

Protocol Research: GoPlus Security

GP Basic Image

What to know:

  • As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
  • GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
  • Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.

More For You

XRP Faces Downside Risk as Social Sentiment Turns Wildly Negative

(Midjourney/Modified by CoinDesk)

The turn in crowd mood comes after a two-month slide of roughly 31%, leaving the token vulnerable to further downside if risk appetite weakens across majors.

What to know:

  • XRP's price approached the $2 mark as social sentiment around the token turned sharply negative, according to Santiment data.
  • The token has experienced a 31% decline over two months, making it vulnerable to further losses if market risk appetite weakens.
  • Santiment's sentiment model indicates XRP is in a 'fear zone,' where negative commentary significantly outweighs positive talk, potentially influencing market positioning.