International
El Salvador continues to bet on bitcóin as part of its economic policy.
El Salvador continues to bet on bitcóin as part of its economic policy. (Free Press Photo: AFP)
El Salvador Continue to acquire Bitcoin for “its strategic reserve” and adds 6,165 units with an economic value – at the price of May 3 – of about US $ 600 million, this despite the fact that the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has limited the use and purchase of cryptocurrency, which in the Central American country eliminated the obligation to accept it and the state role in its use was suppressed.
The Bitcoin National Office (ONBTC) of El Salvadorunder the presidency of Nayib Bukelehe published on Friday, May 2 in X the new acquisition with an English message: “El Salvador buys another BTC for its strategic Bitcoin reserve.”
According to the data housed on the Bitcoin.gob.sv/es portal, El Salvador It has 6 thousand 165 Bitcoinesthis amount at this time reaches an economic value of more than US $ 600 million.
This purchase, and others made in the months of March and April, is despite the fact that the IMF has limited the use of Bitcoin and the purchase of this asset by the government of El Salvador as one of the conditions for an economic agreement for US $ 1,400 million.
Despite this IMF condition, the president Bukele said in March that the acquisition of Bitcoin “It won’t stop in the future.”
The Salvadoran government has not reported the destination that these resources will have in the short and medium term, or if they will be destined for a specific project.
The President Bukele He has only said that the construction of the public veterinarian Pets goat And of 20 schools would find them “earnings“, But, according to local media reports, the veterinarian needed funds public and these educational centers would not have been built yet.
El Salvador He made history in 2021 by becoming the first country in the world to adopt the Bitcóin as legal tender. However, the bet of Bukele He did not have the expected impact.
At the end of last January, the Legislative Assembly of El Salvador reformed the Bitcoin Law To eliminate the obligation to accept this cryptocurrency For economic agents, suppressing state role in use and erase references to accept it as a legal tender.
Various surveys indicate that 91.8 % of Salvadorans did not use the cryptocurrency in mention in 2024.