Nayib Bukele Confirms El Salvador Now Has 400 Bitcoins

El Salvador, today officially adopted bitcoin as a legal tender. (photo: twitter)

JAKARTA – President Nayib Bukele on Monday, September 6 stated that El Salvador currently holds 400 bitcoins. The statement was made, one day before the country officially adopted it as legal tender alongside the US dollar.

Bitcoin is temporarily up above 1.49% to over USD 52.680 as of Monday, September 6 evening, according to Refinitiv Eikon data. Market analysts from Reuters put it on track for USD 56.000-56.300. This is a significant improvement.

El Salvador just bought 200 new coins.

We now hold 400 #bitcoin#BitcoinDay 🇸🇻

— Nayib Bukele 🇸🇻 (@nayibbukele) September 6, 2021

Earlier on Monday, Bukele announced that El Salvador had bought its first 200 bitcoins. He made a statement via Twitter that "our broker will buy more as the deadline approaches". Later that day he also said, "we now hold 400 bitcoins".

The statement is also believed to have made the price of bitcoin now in a bullish state. Last week, bitcoin itself was still trading under USD 50.000. But now it is believed that it will continue to increase.

El Salvador will legalize bitcoin on September 7, 2021, a move Bukele says will save Salvadorans living abroad millions of dollars in commission on the money they send home.

But polls show El Salvadorans are skeptical about bitcoin's use. They are wary of cryptocurrency volatility which critics say could increase regulatory and financial risks for financial institutions.