"One Per Day"...A Country Where the President's Obsession Led to the Accumulation of 7,643 Bitcoins

El Salvador Holds 7,643 Bitcoins after Adopting It as Legal Tender
President Continues Purchases Despite Market Crash and IMF Pressure
Approval Rating Nears 90% Following Crime Crackdown

Recently, as Bitcoin has been on the rise, President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador has continued to focus on accumulating Bitcoin.

Photo for article understanding. Photo by Reuters and Yonhap News Agency

According to Yonhap News on May 6 (local time), citing the Spanish-language media outlet Infobae, the government of El Salvador held 7,643 Bitcoins as of May this year, with a total acquisition cost reaching 622.3 million dollars (about 900 billion won). The government has purchased an additional 1,633 Bitcoins over the past 16 months from January last year to April this year, and since May, it has been steadily buying one coin per day.

President Bukele’s Bitcoin accumulation began in September 2021, when El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. At that time, the price per Bitcoin was around 47,000 dollars. After the cryptocurrency market crashed in 2022, resulting in unrealized losses amounting to hundreds of millions of dollars, both domestic and international criticism intensified. However, President Bukele responded by making further purchases. In July 2022, amid a sharp market downturn, he bought 80 Bitcoins at 19,000 dollars each, posting on his social media, "Thank you for selling at a low price."

As the price of Bitcoin rebounded, the situation reversed. In 2024, President Bukele stated on social media, “When the Bitcoin price dropped, people published thousands of articles about our losses. Now, if we were to sell, we could realize a profit of over 40%. Of course, we are not going to sell.” By the end of that year, the estimated return was around 90%.

Although the government encourages the use of cryptocurrencies, it is reported that 90% of the population does not use them in daily life. During the process of receiving a bailout from the International Monetary Fund (IMF), some restrictions were also placed on the use and purchase of cryptocurrencies. El Salvador received a bailout package worth 1.4 billion dollars from the IMF at the end of 2024, conditioned on scaling back Bitcoin-related policies in the public sector.

President Nayib Bukele of El Salvador and U.S. President Donald Trump. Photo by AP Yonhap News

While Bitcoin’s function as an everyday means of exchange remains weak, its use for remittances is on the rise. In the first quarter of this year, international remittances through cryptocurrency wallets reached 17.38 million dollars, a 49.7% increase compared to the same period last year (11.61 million dollars). According to Infobae, "Despite the volatility of remittance amounts and legal and financial restrictions, the government of El Salvador continues to invest in cryptocurrencies as part of its national economic strategy."

The trend of accumulating Bitcoin as a national asset is not limited to El Salvador. The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan reportedly holds Bitcoins equivalent to 30% of its GDP, thanks to mining powered by hydroelectric energy. In March last year, the United States saw President Donald Trump sign an executive order to establish a "strategic Bitcoin reserve" using Bitcoins that had been seized or confiscated, and further legislative action is under discussion.

Meanwhile, beyond Bitcoin accumulation, President Bukele is considered a role model for right-wing leaders in Central and South America who are grappling with public security concerns. With a strong will to eradicate crime, he sent most members of drug cartel organizations to prison, resulting in a noticeable drop in crime rates. His approval rating, based on these achievements, is close to 90%. The "CECOT" prison he established is the largest in Central and South America, but has also faced controversy over human rights violations.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.