El Salvador president triumphant after bet on bitcoin delivers

As bitcoin reached historic highs, surpassing US$100,000 for the first time, El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele was triumphant on Thursday about his big bet on the cryptocurrency.

The adoption of bitcoin – which has been legal tender in the Central American nation since 2021 – never quite matched the president’s enthusiasm, but the value of the government’s reported investment now stands at more than US$600 million.

Bitcoin has rallied mightily since Donald Trump’s election victory last month, exceeding the US$100,000 mark on Wednesday night, just hours after the president-elect said he intends to nominate cryptocurrency advocate Paul Atkins to be the next chair of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Just two years ago, bitcoin’s volatile value fell below US$17,000. Bitcoin fell back below the US$100,000 by Thursday afternoon, sitting just above US$99,000. On Friday, the price was hovering above US$101,000 at mid-afternoon.

Bukele on Thursday blamed his beleaguered political opposition for causing many Salvadorans to miss out on the bonanza.

There were street protests when the Congress made bitcoin legal tender in June 2021, though that move was not the only motivation for the protesters.

The tiny Central American country has long used the dollar as currency, but Bukele promised bitcoin would provide new opportunities for El Salvador’s unbanked and cut out money transfer services from the remittances Salvadorans abroad send home.

The government offered US$30 in bitcoin to those who signed up for digital wallets.

Many did so, but quickly cashed out the cryptocurrency.

“It’s important to emphasise that not only did the opposition err resoundingly with bitcoin, but rather, differently from other issues (where they have also been wrong), this time their opposition affected many,” Bukele wrote on Facebook.

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