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El Salvador’s President Says No Intention to Sell as BTC Holdings Turns Profitable
El Salvador's Bitcoin investment is profitable by over $3 million following the latest upswing in the cryptocurrency's price.
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Nayib Bukele, president of El Salvador, announced Monday that the nation’s large-scale investment in Bitcoin (BTC) was now profitable by over $3 million. The move comes amid the latest BTC price surge to an 18-month high of $42,000. The leader also announced that the government has no intention to sell its Bitcoin holdings.
El Salvador Will Not Sell its Bitcoin, Reiterates Long-Term Focus
El Salvador’s president Nayib Bukele said in an X post on Monday that the country’s Bitcoin investment is now profitable due to the latest rally that took the cryptocurrency above the $42,000 mark. According to his tweet, selling its BTC holding would net El Salvador more than $3 million in profit.
“With the current #Bitcoin market price, if we were to sell our #Bitcoin, we would not only recover 100% of our investment but also make a profit of $3,620,277.13 USD (as of this moment).”
– Bukele wrote in his tweet.
However, Bukele emphasized that El Salvador has no intention of selling its BTC holdings and reiterated possible fluctuations in the maiden cryptocurrency will not affect its long-term plans.
This marks a significant turn of events for El Salvador, which was sitting on a loss of roughly $16 million three weeks ago, according to CoinDesk’s calculations.
El Salvador made history in 2021 by becoming the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender, a bold move championed by its Bukele. Despite facing domestic and international scrutiny, the Central American nation led by Bukele has remained a staunch supporter of Bitcoin, actively investing in the cryptocurrency as part of its efforts to leverage technology for financial inclusion and economic development.
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Bitcoin Hits 18-Month High
El Salvador’s reaching profitability on its Bitcoin came on the back of the latest rally in the world’s biggest cryptocurrency. Notably, BTC briefly crossed the $42,000 threshold on Monday before retreating back to around $41,500. This was the first time Bitcoin touched that mark since April 2022.
The recent surge in Bitcoin prices is fueled by optimism surrounding the potential approval of a spot Bitcoin ETF by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) by January 10. If approved, it would mark the first such ETF in the US, with experts anticipating a favorable decision this time.
Additionally, cryptocurrencies and other risk assets have attracted investors’ interest amid growing expectations that the Federal Reserve has concluded its rate-hiking cycle, with some predicting potential cutting rates in the coming year.
Do you think El Salvador’s Bitcoin bet will be a successful move in the long term? Let us know in the comments below.
Tim Fries
Tim Fries is the cofounder of The Tokenist. He has a B. Sc. in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan, and an MBA from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. Tim served as a Senior Associate on the investment team at RW Baird's US Private Equity division, and is also the co-founder of Protective Technologies Capital, an investment firm specializing in sensing, protection and control solutions.
