Bitcoin ( BTC ) held by the government of El Salvador is now worth more than $150 million.

The latest data from monitoring resource Bitcoin Treasuries estimates that El Salvador’s BTC holdings are up $50 million versus cost basis.

El Salvador BTC returns dwarf cost basis

Bitcoin first appeared as legal tender in El Salvador in 2022, and since then, the country’s stash has gone from bear market rags to record riches.

Since its president Nayib Bukele announced that the government would start purchasing 1 BTC per day, it has amassed approximately 2,380 BTC ($158.5 million).

At Bitcoin’s new all-time highs on March 5, 2024 , this was worth $164.7 million — a full 53% more than El Salvador’s aggregate cost basis. Each Bitcoin was purchased at an average price of $44,300.

In recent commentary on X (formerly Twitter), Bukele, who was reelected last month , criticized mainstream media approaches to the government’s economic policy.

“When Bitcoin’s market price was low, they wrote literally thousands of articles about our supposed losses. Now that Bitcoin’s market price is way up, if we were to sell, we would make a profit of over 40% (just from the market purchases), and our main source of BTC is now our citizenship program,” he claimed last week.

“We won’t sell, or course; at the end 1 BTC = 1 BTC (this was true when the market price was low and it’s true now); but it’s very telling that the authors of those hit pieces, the ‘analysts’, the ‘experts’, the ‘journalists’, are totally silent now.”
El Salvador Bitcoin holdings hit record $164M as BTC profits pass $50M image 0 El Salvador Bitcoin holdings (screenshot). Source: Bitcoin Treasuries

Ahead of the pack?

Despite the attention given to its Bitcoin pivot, El Salvador remains a lone wolf among nation states adopting a “Bitcoin standard.”

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Despite rumors of others in both South America and further afield following suit, no official announcements have yet been made.

Among those most confident of nation-state adoption to come is Samson Mow, whose company, JAN3, aims to “accelerate hyperbitcoinization.”

In an appearance on The Bitcoin Podcast, Mow listed nation-states as one of the key buyers going forward, in addition to corporations and institutional buyers via the spot Bitcoin exchange-traded funds, or ETFs.

“As it keeps going up, you have price-insensitive buyers,” he explained, including retail investors purchasing much smaller increments.

This article does not contain investment advice or recommendations. Every investment and trading move involves risk, and readers should conduct their own research when making a decision.