A cold wallet owned by the Salvadoran government has been acquiring one Bitcoin every day since March 16, adding 162 coins to the countryβs Bitcoin holdings.
Data from blockchain analytics platform Arkham Intelligence indicates that the address, marked as El Salvador government cold wallet, currently holds 5,851 Bitcoin, with a market value of $356.4 million.
The walletβs inflow chart reveals that it has been adding a single Bitcoin daily since March 16. The latest purchase was made several hours ago at a cost of $60,500. However, there were days when the wallet made minimal BTC purchases of less than $100.
According to crypto analyst EmberCN, the average cost of El Salvadorβs BTC holdings is approximately $44,835, giving the country a floating profit of $93.45 million.
The purchases align with Salvadoran President Nayib Bukeleβs commitment to buy one Bitcoin every day until the cryptocurrency becomes “unaffordable.” On the day the purchases began, El Salvador moved 5,689 BTC into the cold storage wallet, with the holdings then valued at $386 million. Bukele referred to the wallet as the countryβs first βBitcoin piggy bank.β
To create greater transparency around its Bitcoin ownership, the South American nation created a mempool space enabling the public to audit its crypto holdings.
Furthermore, Bukeleβs government has proposed using crypto for trade with Russia. El Salvador suggested this as a way to bypass sanctions imposed on Russia by the U.S. and its allies due to the ongoing conflict with Ukraine.
El Salvador recognizes the U.S. dollar as a national currency, complicating trade with Russia, whose access to the USD has been severely limited by sanctions. Meanwhile, Bitcoin is up 0.8% in the last 24 hours and 5.1% over the past week. It now has a market capitalization exceeding $1.2 trillion, accounting for more than 53% of the entire crypto marketβs value.
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