Doubling Down: El Salvador Adds Nearly $25M in Bitcoin to Treasury

SAN SALVADOR, Oct 27 (Reuters) – The Salvadoran government acquired 420 more bitcoin on Wednesday, President Nayib Bukele announced on social media, as the Central American doubled down on its splashy cryptocurrency experiment.

The latest purchase of bitcoin, worth nearly $25 million at current prices, marks the first government acquisition of the cryptocurrency since Sept. 20, when Bukele said it had bought 150 bitcoins.

“It was a long wait, but worth it. We just bought the dip! 420 new bitcoin,” Bukele wrote in a post on Twitter in English.

The cryptocurrency currently trades at just above $59,000 per bitcoin.

Earlier last month, El Salvador became the first country in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender alongside the U.S. dollar, which Bukele has argued will lower the cost of remittances from Salvadoran migrants living overseas.

Traditional banks and other financial institutions typically charge hefty fees to process the money transfers.

Overall, El Salvador’s treasury holds 1,120 bitcoin, according to official data, worth nearly $66 million.

The impoverished country’s economy is heavily dependent on around $6 billion in remittances sent home each year, or about a quarter of gross domestic product, with around one fifth of households dependent on the cash infusions.

This comes as Bitcoin value soars internationally:

LONDON/NEW YORK/HONG KONG, Oct 15 (Reuters) – Bitcoin topped $60,000 for the first time in six months on Friday, nearing its all-time high, as hopes grew that U.S. regulators would allow a futures-based exchange-traded fund (ETF), a move likely to open the path to wider investment in digital assets.

Cryptocurrency investors have been waiting for approval of the first U.S. ETF for bitcoin, with bets on such a move fuelling its recent rally.

Reporting by Gerardo Arbaiza; Writing by David Alire Garcia Editing by Sonya Hepinstall

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