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El Salvador creates history after buying 400 Bitcoin (BTC) El Salvador creates history after buying 400 Bitcoin (BTC)
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El Salvador creates history after buying 400 Bitcoin (BTC)

President Bukele of El Salvador has announced that the country has purchased 400 Bitcoin.

El Salvador creates history after buying 400 Bitcoin (BTC)

Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele has revealed that the Central American country has successfully purchased 200 units of Bitcoin in a tweet on Monday. This makes the country the first government in the world to invest in the crypto space.

Bitcoin for El Salvador 

The president hinted that this could be the first of many purchases because its “brokers will be buying a lot more as the deadline approaches.” Later in the day, he revealed that the country bought more Bitcoin taking its total holdings to 400 units of the digital king.

Interestingly, El Salvador is expected to officially legalize the use of Bitcoin on September 7 after it became the first country to recognize the coin as a legal tender earlier in the year. Since then, President Bukele has constantly reiterated his belief that the asset would make remittance to the country easier, faster, and cheaper and at the same time do a lot of good for the country’s economy and society.

El Salvador faces hostile reactions

While many crypto enthusiasts have welcomed the decision as a sign of what the future holds for the industry, the Central American country has faced some level of backlash from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund who say that adopting BTC could have negative impact. And recently, the country has witnessed some level of opposition from locals who highlighted the issue of volatility attached to the asset plus its use by criminals.

There are indications that the country could have made the purchase through the $150 million fund it had set aside for the adoption of BTC as a legal tender. The purchase could also be geared towards its plan of giving each citizen of the country $30 worth of the asset.

In reaction to the news, the value of BTC briefly climbed to as high as $52,853 before dropping to its current price of $52,587, which according to CoinMarketCap is a 1.59 percent increase in the last 24 hours.