In an effort to ‘buy the dip,’ the President of El Salvador just announced the additional purchase of 150 BTC as Bitcoin crashed on what would appear to be profit-taking from whales (Big money investors). This brings the nation’s Bitcoin holdings to 550 BTC.
Today is regarded as Bitcoin Day in El Salvador as the flagship cryptocurrency is now officially legal tender in the country. However, whales seem adamant about crashing the party as Bitcoin declined over 18% in the New York Trading session, on a day regarded as a historical moment for Bitcoin.
The President of El Salvador, Nayib Bukele, seems unfazed by the market meltdown as he took to Twitter to announce that the nation is ‘buying the dip,’ as Bitcoin fell sharply below the $50,000 trading zone, to trade as low as $43,285. He stated, “Buying the dip. 150 new coins added.”
The president seems to blame the price crash of Bitcoin on the IMF, which has been spreading FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) about the country’s adoption of Bitcoin as legal tender. Recently, the IMF released a publication titled, “Cryptoassets as National Currency? A Step Too Far,” which criticized the adoption of crypto assets as a national currency stating that the action is ‘ill-advised.’
Nayib Bukele had this to say in a tweet, “It appears the discount is ending. Thanks for the dip @IMFNews. We saved a million in printed paper. El Salvador now holds 550 Bitcoin. #BitcoinDay”
As you would imagine, altcoin too followed suit as Ether, ADA, XRP, BNB and so on, are all posting doubt figure declines as the cryptocurrency market capitalization is down over 11% to currently stand at approximately $2.07 trillion.
Both enthusiasts and detractors of cryptocurrencies are monitoring the experiment to see if a significant number of people want to transact with Bitcoin when it circulates alongside the U.S. dollar, and whether it brings any benefits to the violent, impoverished Central American nation.
If the experiment is a success, other countries may follow El Salvador’s lead. Its adoption will get an initial boost from the government’s Bitcoin wallet Chivo, which comes pre-loaded with $30 worth of the currency for users who register with a Salvadoran national ID number. The government disconnected the wallet earlier in the day to sort out technical glitches and said they are running tests to make it available for download later in the day.
Bitcoin seems to be recovering as it currently trades above the $47,000 trading zone. It is down 9.19% for the day, as of the time of this writing.