Nayib Bukele, the President of El Salvador, says his country is experiencing a surge in Bitcoin purchases. He says more people are buying the cryptocurrency than withdrawing it. In a tweet to his three million followers. The 40-year-old President says Salvadorans have spent over $3 million purchasing Bitcoin in 24 hours.
Most people in the country purchase Bitcoin at the Chivo vending machines found in strategic locations.
Through a tweet, President Bukele revealed earlier this month that many Salvadorans use Chivo Bitcoin wallet to purchase and keep Bitcoin.
Statistics from the World Bank show that El Salvador has a population of around 6.5 million. This means that about 46% of the country’s population use the Bitcoin wallet.
More Salvadorans Buying Bitcoin
In a detailed observation he revealed on his social media, President Bukele says many of Salvadorans that opened their Chivo wallets on September 20th. (When the Bitcoin was slightly below $41,000) have registered significant profits in less than that a month.
Bukele, who tends to communicate significant policies through his Twitter account, revealed that El Salvador had started using geothermal power harnessed from volcanoes to mine Bitcoin in another tweet.
In June, the President promised that he would launch a Bitcoin mining operation that uses very cheap, renewable, clean emission energy. This is to be generated from various geothermal sources in the country.
Why El Salvador is Choosing Bitcoin
President Bukele had earlier suggested that legalizing Bitcoin in El Salvador would attract investors and spur development in the country.
In return, around 70% of Salvadorans who lack access to various financial services would start getting them. In a statement, Bukele urged his citizens to break the paradigms of the past. He said El Salvador has the right to develop and move forward away from the traditional setup.
Emphasizing the importance of using Bitcoin, Bukele said it would also be an effective way of transferring the billions of dollars in remittances that foreign-based Salvadorans send back home every year.
According to recent statistics, the El Salvador government holds a total of 550 Bitcoin. This equals around $26 million.
El Zonte, a significant town in El Salvador, aims to become one of the world’s inaugural Bitcoin economies. Also known as the Bitcoin Beach, El Zonte is one of the most developed urban centres in the country.
The government has installed numerous ATMs that allow Bitcoin to be converted into dollars then withdrawn without commission in preparation for the launch. The cryptocurrency is withdrawn from a digital wallet known as Chivo.
While he had earlier indicated the transition would be quick with instant results, Bukele has asked for patience as his government gradually rolls out the program. While this happens, Bitcoin has been highly volatile. It rose to around $64,000 in April, then fell to as low as $30,000 in May.
The volatility has made a move my Bukele to make the Bitcoin legal in El Salvador receive some opposition. The government seeks to get a $1billion monetary fund from the IMF to implement various government projects and invest in Bitcoin.