El Salvador buys the dip
3 min read
El Salvador is buying an emblematic amount of fresh BTC. But who actually manages them?
The President of El Salvador is an internet troll. His behavior on the BTC platform Número Uno is different, Twitternot to explain. Because in the usual flippant style, Bukele reports the latest coup by the El Salvador government: They bought the dip and now own another 420 (!) BTC. 420 is a code in use around the world among friends of cannabis use. The number goes back to The Waldos, a group of cannabis users who were looking for a weed plantation in the fall of 1971. They met – how could it be otherwise – at 4:20 PM, the code has been in use ever since.
That brings the total BTC ownership to 1,120 BTC. El Salvador is sitting on a digital gold treasure worth 67.7 million US dollars and is the third richest nation in the world measured in BTC. Only Bulgaria (213,519 BTC) and Ukraine (46,351 BTC) have more – at least as far as public knowledge is concerned. In contrast to Bulgaria and the Ukraine, to which the BTC fell into their hands rather accidentally through seizures, El Salvador’s crypto treasure is based on a conscious accumulation strategy.
Bukele is a bitcoiner
Nayib Bukele, president of the country since 2019, makes no secret of his convictions as a Bitcoiner. He was the lead architect of the BTC Act, which made cryptocurrency legal tender in September this year. Since then, Bukele has been pushing the country’s BTC-friendly course against all odds – and slowly seems to be able to pull the population on his side. So reported about Reddit-Users “Tux_Fan” that the initial skepticism of the users is giving way and BTC is becoming more and more suitable for everyday use. But more as a store of value, because the crypto currency has not yet established itself as a currency.
“People are starting to understand how BTC works. In daily use there is no difference between USD and BTC, people show interest in cryptocurrencies as an investment method rather than currency ”, writes the user on Reddit.
Protests are fading
Protests against the law have also died down. However, this could also be due to the fact that BTC has risen by around 32 percent since the law was introduced on September 7th. So whoever kept the $ 30 starting balance on the Chivo Wallet, the government-backed crypto wallet, has recently been able to enjoy the positive aspects of the notorious BTC volatility.
Speaking of chivo. As reported by Reddit user Tux_Fan and the local news portal Radioyscl confirmed, some went away empty-handed when the US $ 30 was awarded. Because to activate the digital gift is a so-called DUI necessary, a personalized identification number that is assigned to the identity card. However, since this number is relatively lax, third parties could misuse the numbers of their fellow citizens for their own registrations – and cheat them for the Satoshi starting credit. As Radioyskl reports, police investigations are ongoing and arrests have probably already taken place.
It is also still unclear how the country’s government stores the BTC. Since BTC is a so-called owner instrument, i.e. the person who actually owns the coins who has access to the private keys, there is definitely a public interest in knowing the circumstances of the custody. After all, Bukele is not the CEO of a company, even if his style of government suggests that, but the democratically elected President of El Salvador.
By the way: BTC-ECHO wants to get an idea of the background to the BTC law in El Salvador. As a media partner, we are therefore reporting on the Adopting BTC Conference from November 16 to 18 in the Salvadoran capital of San Salvador. You can find out more about this here.
