El Salvador’s Bitcoin Holdings Surpass Previous Estimates
In a surprising turn of events, El Salvador has revealed that it possesses a significantly larger number of bitcoins than previously known. The country’s President, Nayib Bukele, recently disclosed that over 5,000 bitcoins were transferred into a cold wallet this week. This disclosure effectively doubles the country’s known stash of the popular digital asset.
President Bukele took to X (formerly Twitter) to share the news, referring to the new setup as “our first #Bitcoin piggy bank.” The cold wallet, which contains 5,689.68 bitcoins, equivalent to $411 million at current prices, is securely stored in a physical vault within El Salvador’s national territory. The sheer size of this bitcoin treasury far surpasses public estimations, which had placed the nation’s holdings at less than 3,000 bitcoins ($205 million) as of Thursday.
This revelation marks the first time President Bukele has tied his nation’s bitcoin holdings to a specific address. Previously, he had relied on social media posts to provide updates on the size of El Salvador’s bitcoin trove, often announcing additional purchases. It was in September 2021 that El Salvador became the first country to incorporate bitcoin as a treasury asset when the price of a single coin stood at around $52,000. As of Thursday, bitcoin prices were above $72,000, experiencing fluctuations between $68,000 and $73,000 in the past 24 hours.
The transfers into El Salvador’s cold wallet took place over the course of the past week, with most of them occurring on Thursday. Arkham Intelligence reports that the majority of the bitcoin in the wallet originated from Bitfinex.
El Salvador’s increased bitcoin holdings reflect the country’s ongoing commitment to embracing cryptocurrencies and utilizing them as a significant part of its economic strategy. With this latest development, El Salvador solidifies its position as a prominent player in the global bitcoin landscape.