Crypto-friendly country El Salvador bought more Bitcoin (BTC) on Monday amid a bloodletting that saw Bitcoin slump below $90,000 — its lowest price in seven months.
El Salvador purchased 1,090 more BTC for its national treasury reserves for a total cost of $100 million, representing the largest single-day purchase the country has ever made.
Since November 2022, the smallest country in mainland Central America has continued to buy up 1 BTC per day, despite mounting tensions with international lenders. According to the government’s own figures and blockchain data, the country now holds 7,474.37 BTC, valued at about $680 million.
The latest purchase came as the ongoing market correction pushed sentiment to ‘Extreme Fear’ on the Crypto Fear & Greed Index, suggesting investors are panicking amid the sustained downtrend that has knocked Bitcoin down 27.8% from its October all-time high of $126,080.
El Salvador’s Financing Agreement With IMF
Notably, it’s not clear whether El Salvador actually bought the 1,090 Bitcoins from the market as the country’s legislature rushed to roll back public sector involvement in Bitcoin in January to remain compliant under the IMF loan agreement.
In July, the International Monetary Fund published a report claiming that the Salvadoran government hadn’t acquired any new Bitcoin since signing the $1.4 billion loan deal in December 2024. Per the report, the growth in BTC holdings in the reserve fund reflected the consolidation of the asset across multiple government-owned wallets, rather than new buys.
However, President Nayib Bukele insisted that El Salvador had no intention of stopping its accumulation of Bitcoin due to the IMF’s demands.
“‘This all stops in April.’ ‘This all stops in June.’ ‘This all stops in December.’ No, it’s not stopping,” Bukele previously postulated in a post on X. “If it didn’t stop when the world ostracized us and most ‘bitcoiners’ abandoned us, it won’t stop now, and it won’t stop in the future. Proof of work > proof of whining.”
The Monday BTC acquisition also follows closer collaboration with the United States on crypto oversight, including an early June meeting between Bukele and the former White House’s Presidential Council of Advisers for Digital Assets, Bo Hines.
Source: https://zycrypto.com/el-salvador-unveils-biggest-single-day-bitcoin-buy-of-100-million-while-crypto-slides-into-extreme-fear/
