El Salvador’s bitcoin {{BTC}} treasury is sitting on $84 million in unrealized profit on the holdings it first started acquiring in September 2021.
Bitcoin’s 250% rise over the past year has catapulted the Central American nation’s bitcoin treasury to over $206 million as of Tuesday, a 69% gain on initial capital so far. It holds 2,681 BTC, data shows, acquired over 12 separate purchases at an average cost of $42,600.
In 2021, bitcoin went on equal footing with the U.S. dollar in El Salvador after a historic “Bitcoin Law” made it the first country to recognize bitcoin as a legal tender. Since then, goods, services and taxes can all be paid for in bitcoin.
As such, President Nayib Bukele indicated in a Tuesday post that the nation is earning even more bitcoin in the form of revenue from other services. These include revenue from a citizenship passport program, which converts bitcoin to U.S. dollars for local businesses, bitcoin mining, and revenue from government services.
+ #BTC revenue from our passport program+ Revenue from converting #BTC to USD for local businesses+ #BTC from mining + #BTC revenue from government services https://t.co/O1sjKoJRiq
— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) March 11, 2024
The country introduced its “Freedom VISA” in December, doling out residency to a maximum of 1,000 people per year who invest at least $1 million worth of bitcoin or tether (USDT) stablecoins. Successful applicants receive long-term residency permits and have a path to full citizenship, as reported.
