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Benzinga
Benzinga
Business
Samyuktha Sriram

El Salvador Keeps Buying Bitcoin As Purchases Lose $18M Of Nation's Public Funds

El Salvador is down more than 20% on its Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) investments, which began in September 2021.

What Happened: Over the past few months, the nation has been steadily acquiring the apex cryptocurrency, even as it has lost 50% of its value.

El Salvador purchased 200 BTC worth $9.34 million on Sept. 6, 2021 — one day before it officially adopted BTC as legal tender. It then went on to immediately purchase another 200 BTC worth $9.36 million on the same day.

On Sept. 7, El Salvador add 150 BTC worth $6.94 million, followed by a Sept. 19 purchase where the country added another 150 BTC worth $6.46 million.

October saw the nation's biggest and most expensive purchase when it bought 420 BTC worth $24.69 million when Bitcoin’s price had risen significantly higher. On Black Friday, the country bought 100 BTC worth $5.42 million.

In December, El Salvador added another 150 BTC worth $7.3 million.

The most recent investment came on Jan. 22 when the El Salvador President Nayib Bukele announced that the country had added 410 BTC worth $15 million to its holdings.

Bitcoin was trading at just under $40,000 at the time, but went on to shed another 10% of its value over the next few days.

The latest BTC acquisition means El Salvador has purchased at least $86.5 million worth of Bitcoin in total. Although, the stash of at least 1,801 BTC is now worth around than $68 million.

The country’s decisions have been scrutinized by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which has urged El Salvador to drop its Bitcoin plans.

Price Action: As of Wednesday morning, Bitcoin was trading at $38,126.25, up 4.73% in the last 24 hours.

Photo: Courtesy of Blockzeit CH on Flickr

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