El Salvador buys 420 Bitcoin worth nearly $25 million

The president of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, revealed on Wednesday that his country has purchased an extra 420 Bitcoin. This brings the total amount acquired to date to 1,120 BTC.

At current prices, the additional investment is worth about $24.7 million. Bitcoin is now trading at roughly $58.9K on Coinbase, according to TradingView market data.

The most recent acquisition dates more than a month after Bukele revealed the purchase of 150 BTC, extending the 550 BTC acquired previously. “We just bought the dip!” he exclaimed Wednesday, adopting a similar framing as that he used for September 20’s purchase event.

It was a long wait, but worth it.

We just bought the dip!

420 new #Bitcoin🇸🇻

— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) October 27, 2021

On September 7, El Salvador’s Congress passed a bill to make Bitcoin legal currency. Because of the country’s turbulent political and economic past, Salvadorans have had to endure much hardship. For decades, many Salvadorans have fought wars, endured poverty, and faced continual financial deterioration.

Now, street vendors, financial institutions, and government organizations are required by law to accept cryptocurrency as payment. The approval of Bitcoin as legal tender also allows the government to pay out subsidies in it.

The Bitcoin nation

The most adamant Bitcoin believers would have dreamed that a nation-state would embrace the technology. Not many people would have guessed that the first country to embrace such a move would be a region that doesn’t make the top 100 countries according to GDP (gross domestic product) and earns an estimated monthly living wage of $325.

Cryptocurrency is a highly contentious legal issue across the world. Despite this, many countries have shown strong interest in utilizing blockchain technology and other cryptocurrencies for commercial purposes. El Salvador’s government made a decision to move toward Bitcoin in order to enhance the country’s economic forecast.

The president has made it clear that foreign crypto investors will be treated favorably and can acquire Salvadoran citizenship if they invest 3 BTC in the country. Because Bitcoin is a legal currency, rather than an investment commodity, foreign residents moving to El Salvador will not have to pay capital gains tax on any profits generated if the cryptocurrency’s value rises.

However, the move by El Salvador has not come without criticism. As reported by The Coinrise, Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin took to Reddit to hit out at El Salvador over the country’s adoption of Bitcoin as a legal tender.