El Salvador Unfolds Bitcoin Plans Post-Presidential Election

• El Salvador’s Nayib Bukele pledged to buy one BTC a day starting November 2022.
• Vice President Felix Ulloa confirms Volcano Bonds’ release date in an interview.
• El Salvador’s Bitcoin journey positively shifts as SEC approves BTC ETFs.

As the El Salvadoran presidential election looms, the small Latin American country has made a name for more than just beautiful beaches and kindling volcanoes. Known as the first country to adopt Bitcoin (BTC) as legal tender, the country has made Bitcoin available for everyone, reaping the benefits of the largest digital asset to bridge the gap between different social classes.

In a recent interview with Reuters, El Salvador’s Vice President Felix Ulloa assured that Bitcoin will remain a centerpiece of the country’s rejuvenation path if the current Bitcoin-loving President Nayib Bukele stays for a second consecutive election term. According to the latest surveys, Bukele’s chances of winning the election are nearly guaranteed, as the sentiment towards the young millennial leader has completely changed since his iron-fisted crackdown on gangs brought peace to the violence-torn country.

Bitcoin enthusiasts can enjoy a crypto-based passport or residency permit, zero taxes on technology startups, and multiple Bitcoin Lightning education events. Most of all, crypto investors look forward to trading the Volcano power-based Bitcoin bonds. The wait for these bonds might not be long, as El Salvador’s Digital Assets Commission (CNAD) approved the issuance of these natural-power-based BTC bonds, slated for an early 2024 launch.

El Salvador’s BTC Stash in the Black Despite IMF Worries

2022 was a wild year for crypto, with Bitcoin retesting the floor at $16K due to Terra Luna’s UST de-peg and the FTX collapse. In January 2022, the International Monetary Fund (IMF) issued a call for reconsideration to El Salvador’s government during loan negotiations for $1 billion.

But Bukele’s brave bet to pioneer the digital economy landscape started paying off in the second half of 2023 when Bitcoin recovered from numerous pullbacks.

Despite Bukele’s acquisitions of BTC getting negative returns up to 2022, El Salvador’s Bitcoin reserves erased the deficit once BTC breached $33K on October 25, 2023. On top of that, El Salvador’s government successfully returned a $800 million loan the International Monetary Fund (IMF) granted.

Currently valued at $118,944,404.22, this massive Bitcoin stash makes it into the TOP 5 largest BTC holdings owned by governments around the globe. With 2,821 Bitcoins, El Salvador falls short only to the United States, China, Ukraine, and Bulgaria.

At press time, the king crypto Bitcoin trades at $42,196.86, making 5.8% gains in the last seven days. Bitcoin erased the curse of intense outflows from Grayscale’s GBTC ETF, as investors dumped over $5 billion in GBTC ETF shares in the first few weeks of retail trading.

On the Flipside

• According to Vice President Felix Ulloa, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) recent decision to approve all 11 inaugural Bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETFs) broke El Salvador’s positive stance for Bitcoin as legal currency.
• Ironically, Bitcoin reached its yearly high of $46,936 on January 9, 2024, one day before the SEC’s approval. While BTC ETFs could bring extra centralization hazards, the BTC ETF approval serves as proof of beneficial crypto adoption by the traditional financial system.

Why This Matters

A pioneering country in an all-encompassing Bitcoin adoption as legal cash, El Salvador’s success story is pivotal for the exponential growth of crypto and blockchain technology.

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