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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.
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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.

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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.

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Higit pang Para sa Iyo

Bitcoin losing $70,000 is a warning sign for further downside

a sketched graph, heading downward, on a piece of paper

Crypto majors soften while Asian equities rebound modestly, with traders continuing to weigh quantum fears, ETF flows and a possible shift in bitcoin’s broader trend.

Ano ang dapat malaman:

  • Bitcoin look weak after failing to keep gains above $70,000.
  • Weakness in large caps could soon filter through to small caps, which have been resilient lately.
  • On-chain data suggest the market is in a stress phase without a clear capitulation bottom.
  • Debates rage over impact of quantum-computing risks, a controversial BIP-110 spam-reduction proposal and shifting institutional flows.