El Salvador’s Bitcoin Profits Soar Past $300M as BTC Tops $100K

On Dec. 5, Bitcoin reached six figures for the first time, prompting celebrations across the crypto community.

Source: BNC Bitcoin Liquid Index

 Responding to a post by Autism Capital on X asking for El Salvador’s portfolio details to silence critics, Bukele shared an update on the country’s holdings.

Source: X

Since adopting Bitcoin as legal tender in September 2021, El Salvador has invested nearly $270 million into the cryptocurrency. The latest update shows the nation holds 6,180 BTC, with no sales made to date. With an average purchase price of $44,739 per Bitcoin, the unrealized gains now surpass $333 million, representing a 122% increase in value based on current prices.

El Salvador made history in 2021 as the first country to adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. Its initial purchase of 200 BTC marked the start of a strategy that has since expanded to daily Bitcoin acquisitions under a dollar-cost averaging (DCA) approach, announced by Bukele in November 2022.

The move to embrace Bitcoin has had broader implications for the Salvadoran economy, including a surge in tourism and global attention on the country’s innovative financial policies.

While El Salvador celebrates its crypto success, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) remains critical. The IMF has repeatedly urged the nation to scale back its Bitcoin policies, citing concerns over financial stability. In January 2022, the IMF explicitly recommended that El Salvador stop recognizing Bitcoin as legal tender, and similar calls have persisted, with the organization suggesting reduced public sector exposure to Bitcoin as recently as October 2024.

Bukele’s Bitcoin experiment has sparked global debate, but the recent surge in BTC prices offers validation for his vision. Whether critics like the IMF will soften their stance remains to be seen, but for now, El Salvador stands as a bold case study in national crypto adoption.