El Salvador Makes Its Largest Bitcoin Purchase Ever Despite Rising Market Sell-Off

In spite of the current downturn in the price of Bitcoin, El Salvador has purchased more than $100 million in BTC. This is considered the largest single-day purchase of the token by the country.

El Salvador Makes Record Bitcoin Buy Amid Market Sell-Off

This week, the country again made headlines for buying up 1,090 Bitcoin in a single day. This is the largest single purchase it has made since adopting crypto as legal tender. The acquisition increases the country’s total reserves to an estimated 7,474 BTC, valued at around $676 million.

This purchase was confirmed by the government’s Bitcoin Office and publicly shared by President Nayib Bukele. The plan has been the same since November 2022, when the country vowed to buy 1 Bitcoin per day.

Stacy Herbert, Director of the Bitcoin Office, reported that the regular purchases are made by the government to improve financial independence without relying on banking systems and the U.S. dollar.

El Salvador became the first country to adopt Bitcoin as a form of legal tender in 2021. Since then, adoption rates have been sluggish, but the administration has not moved from its implementation.

Meanwhile, the IMF has repeatedly warned of the country’s high exposure to Bitcoin. This year, though, Herbert fought back against her critics. She cited on-chain records of transactions as proof of continued accumulation.

Last month, El Salvador reported it was sitting on $482 million in unrealized profits. The country’s reserve value climbed to around $775 million. This represents a 162% increase since 2022. At the time, holdings were at about 6,246 BTC.

El Salvador Builds on BTC Partnerships and Influence

Earlier in the year, the nation announced an unexpected partnership with Pakistan. They aimed to explore the use of Bitcoin in public infrastructure. The arrangement made headlines given the two countries’ limited economic ties until now.

In September, it also announced that it would be hosting a government-sponsored Bitcoin conference called Bitcoin Histórico. The conference is supposed to take place this November in San Salvador. Nothing has been heard about that yet online.

Finally, the country has started digitizing official documents on the blockchain network of Bitcoin. This it is doing in partnership with U.S.-based Simple Proof. According to CEO Carlos Toriello, it is a timestamp system that ensures the authenticity of a digital record.

“Bitcoin is not just the money nobody controls, it is also the only clock that nobody can manipulate,” Toriello said.

Despite the commitment to buy in every day, confusion emerged in July when two senior officials in the finance department said that the country hadn’t bought any Bitcoin since February. That’s directly in contrast to what President Bukele and the Bitcoin Office have publicly stated.