TL;DR
- Daily Bitcoin Purchases: Since March 16, 2024, El Salvador has been buying one Bitcoin daily, adding 162 Bitcoins to its reserves, now totaling 5,851 BTC valued at $357.2 million.
- Strategic Vision: President Nayib Bukele’s initiative aims to hold Bitcoin long-term, believing in its potential for significant economic growth, with no plans to sell the holdings.
- Bitcoin Literacy: El Salvador is enhancing Bitcoin education by providing training and certification to 80,000 government employees and integrating Bitcoin education into public schools.
El Salvador, the pioneering nation to recognize Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender, is still on a Bitcoin-buying spree. Recent insights from blockchain analytics firm Arkham Intelligence reveal that since March 16, 2024, a cold wallet thought to belong to the Salvadoran government has been adding one Bitcoin daily to its holdings.
The nation’s steady purchasing approach has resulted in an addition of 162 Bitcoins to its reserves, raising the total to 5,851 as of August 23, 2024. These assets are now valued at around $357.2 million in the current market.
Arkham Intelligence’s data uncovers the daily buying habits associated with this specific wallet. Notably, while the majority of transactions involved the purchase of one Bitcoin, there were occasional instances where the amount bought fell below $1.
According to crypto analyst EmberCN’s post on X from August 23, the average price of Bitcoin in El Salvador is approximately $44,835. This figure suggests a possible gain of $93.45 million, reflecting a 35% increase based on the current market values.
El Salvador’s Bitcoin Strategy – More Than Just Buying
In March 2024, Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, launched a daily Bitcoin acquisition initiative, expressing his goal to persist with it until Bitcoin reaches a point of being “unaffordable.” At the start of this program, El Salvador moved 5,689 Bitcoin into a cold storage wallet, which was worth approximately $386 million at the time. Bukele notably dubbed this wallet the nation’s “first Bitcoin piggy bank.”
The government’s aspirations extend far beyond just financial profit. Bukele has openly stated that he intends to retain the nation’s Bitcoin assets, indicating his strong belief in the cryptocurrency’s potential to drive substantial economic advancement. Analysts also foresee that if Bitcoin’s value keeps climbing, El Salvador might one day emerge as one of the wealthiest nations globally.
In a bid to keep citizens informed about its Bitcoin dealings, El Salvador’s National Bitcoin Office unveiled a new website in May 2024. This platform, developed in collaboration with mempool.space, allows users to monitor the Ministry of Finance’s Bitcoin holdings and provides transparent access to Bitcoin transaction data.
El Salvador to Boost Bitcoin Literacy
To enhance the public sector’s comprehension of Bitcoin, El Salvador’s National Bitcoin Office plans to offer training and certification programs to 80,000 government workers.
“Thousands of El Salvador’s civil servants will soon receive the highest standard of instruction on Bitcoin,” said Stacy Herbert, Director of El Salvador’s Bitcoin Office in its X post from Aug. 20.
El Salvador has taken significant steps in promoting Bitcoin literacy by launching training programs and incorporating Bitcoin education into its public school system. As of 2023, the initiative known as “My First Bitcoin” (originally “Mi Primer Bitcoin”) has been officially added to the school curriculum, aiming to equip the youth with knowledge about this digital asset.
Bitcoin’s market capitalization has surpassed $1.2 trillion, accounting for over half (53.67%) of the entire cryptocurrency market. In the last week, the price of BTC has experienced a modest rise of 5.7%.
