El Salvador president, Nayib Bukele, has affirmed that his country will not sell its bitcoin, emphasizing that “At the end 1 BTC = 1 BTC (this was true when the market price was low and it’s true now).” Bukele further shared: “Now that bitcoin’s market price is way up, if we were to sell, we would make a profit of over 40%”
El Salvador Won't Sell Its Bitcoin — President Bukele Says 'at the end 1 BTC = 1 BTC'
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El Salvador Won’t Sell Its Bitcoin, President Bukele Says
El Salvador’s president, Nayib Bukele, took to social media platform X to talk about bitcoin and his country’s BTC holdings on Wednesday. El Salvador adopted bitcoin as legal tender alongside the U.S. dollar in September 2021.
Noting that “When bitcoin’s market price was low,” there were “literally thousands of articles” about El Salvador’s “supposed losses” from its BTC investment, Bukele detailed: “Now that bitcoin’s market price is way up, if we were to sell, we would make a profit of over 40% (just from the market purchases), and our main source of BTC is now our citizenship program.” The Salvadoran president continued:
We won’t sell, or course; at the end 1 BTC = 1 BTC (this was true when the market price was low and it’s true now).
“But it’s very telling that the authors of those hit pieces, the ‘analysts,’ the ‘experts,’ the ‘journalists,’ are totally silent now,” he stressed. “Remember this, next time they spill lies again about El Salvador.”
Many people praised Bukele for standing firm on bitcoin. Crypto exchange Kraken, for example, wrote: “You had a vision and stuck to it. Thank you for being a Bitcoin pioneer and accelerating adoption!” Gold bug Peter Schiff, however, is more critical of Bukele’s statement, replying to the Salvadoran president: “Talk about those profits after you sell and realize them.” Bukele responded with: “Cry harder.”
El Salvador’s Vice President Félix Ulloa confirmed earlier this month that bitcoin will retain its status as legal tender under President Bukele’s newly reelected leadership. The Bukele government also plans to launch bitcoin-backed bonds in the first quarter of 2024. Moreover, Ulloa said that the construction of Bitcoin City, President Bukele’s proposed tax-free crypto haven in eastern El Salvador, would proceed, along with the issuance of passports to investors contributing $1 million in cryptocurrency.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has consistently urged El Salvador to abandon its bitcoin legal tender status, starting with warnings in November 2021 and January 2022 about potential risks and costs. This was followed by a detailed report in February 2023 reiterating concerns. The latest call by the IMF for El Salvador to drop BTC as legal tender was in January. Despite these repeated warnings, El Salvador has remained committed to Bitcoin.
What do you think about the Salvadoran president’s statements about his country’s bitcoin and his decision not to sell BTC? Let us know in the comments section below.
