Price Drops, El Salvador Adds Another 150 Bitcoins

JAKARTA - El Salvador, the first country to make bitcoin a legal tender, made another 150 bitcoin purchases this week. President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, tweeted that the total cryptocurrency holdings in the country now stands at 700, or about 31 million US dollars, as of Monday, September 20.

The millennial president said the country bought bitcoin during its latest decline as the world's largest digital asset slipped below $45,000 amid a wider global cryptocurrency sell-off.

"They can never beat you if you buy the sauce," Bukele said in a tweet. Bitcoin was last trading 7.86% lower at 43,650 at 8:12 am ET (07:12 p.m. ET).

The El Salvador purchase comes nearly two weeks after the Central American country moved to accept bitcoin as its official currency despite much criticism from outside observers and the general public about the decision.

We just bought the dip.150 new coins!El Salvador now holds 700 coins.#Bitcoin🇸🇻

— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) September 20, 2021

On the day of the launch of Bitcoin as a legal tender, September 7 was immediately met with protests by hundreds of Salvadorans.

However, Bukele believes this new initiative will change the lives of its citizens, especially those who rely heavily on remittances to send and receive money from abroad.

World Bank data reveals that remittances to the country accounted for nearly 20% of gross domestic product in 2019. This makes the country the first or highest ranking in the world in terms of remittances from abroad.

Bukele announced the country's intention to become the first in the world to accept bitcoin as legal tender alongside the US dollar in June. That same month, El Salvador passed the law.

To prepare for crypto adoption, El Salvador installed more than 200 bitcoin ATMs across the country as well as in the US to make remittances cheaper for Salvadorans living abroad.

International organizations including the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank, however, as well as major banks such as JPMorgan and Bank of America, have expressed concern about the country's bold move, citing financial and economic risks.