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Nayib Bukele claims profit on El Salvador’s Bitcoin despite data showing losses Nayib Bukele claims profit on El Salvador’s Bitcoin despite data showing losses

Nayib Bukele claims profit on El Salvador’s Bitcoin despite data showing losses

Bukele, who has taken a voluntary six-month leave from office to focus on his reelection campaign, touts his signature Bitcoin investment as profitable, even if the numbers don't.

Nayib Bukele claims profit on El Salvador’s Bitcoin despite data showing losses

Tribunal Supremo Electoral El Salvador / CC0 1.0 DEED / Flickr.com. Remixed by CryptoSlate

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El Salvador president Nayib Bukele, who recently began a six-month leave from office in order to focus on his reelection campaign, has stated that El Salvador’s Bitcoin (BTC) investment has turned profitable due to Bitcoin’s recent surge past $41,000.

Bukele wrote.

El Salvador’s Bitcoin investments are in the black. With the current Bitcoin market price, if we were to sell our Bitcoin, we would not only recover 100% of our investment but also make a profit of $3,620,277.13 (as of this moment).”

However, data from NayibTracker, a data aggregator monitoring El Salvador’s Bitcoin holdings, contradicts Bukele’s statement, showing the Central American country’s BTC holdings at an unrealized loss of $2.15 million.

El Salvador Bitcoin holding
Data showing El Salvador’s Bitcoin Holding (Source: Nayibtracker)

Per the site, the country’s average BTC purchase price is $42,434, while the top cryptocurrency traded for $41,623 as of press time.

Still, the data marks a significant turnaround for a country whose BTC holdings had recorded nearly $20 million in unrealized losses in October amid the flagship asset’s spike to $35,000.

Over the weekend, BTC’s price broke $41,000 amid continued market optimism surrounding a possible approval for a spot exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the U.S.

El Salvador won’t sell

Bukele stated that El Salvador has no intentions of selling its BTC holdings, reaffirming a long-term strategy regardless of future price fluctuations. He said:

“We have no intention of selling; that has never been our objective. We are fully aware that the price will continue to fluctuate in the future, this doesn’t affect our long-term strategy.”

The Central American country has emerged as one of the most pro-BTC jurisdictions in the world since it made the flagship digital asset a legal tender in 2021. Since then, several crypto companies, including Binance, and major industry stakeholders have touted the country’s pro-crypto legislation.

However, El Salvador’s BTC move has attracted detractors whom Bukele described as “naysayers,” who have written “thousands of articles and hit pieces that ridiculed [the country’s] supposed losses.”

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