On Thursday, President Nayib Bukele declared that El Salvador has stashed over $400 million in bitcoin in an offline "cold wallet" as the digital currency reaches new record heights. Taking to social media platform X, Bukele announced, "We have chosen to transfer a significant portion of our bitcoin to a cold wallet, which will then be stored in a physical safe within our country's borders."
He humorously added, "We can call it our first bitcoin piggy bank."
Cold wallets serve as a safeguard for cryptocurrency investments by keeping them offline, making them less vulnerable to cyber attacks. Bukele also shared a screenshot of the investment, revealing a total of 5,689.7 bitcoin with a value of $406.6 million. In September 2021, El Salvador became the first nation to recognize bitcoin as legal tender, alongside the US dollar.
Bukele stated that the cold wallet initiative may not seem like a significant move, but it is the result of honest efforts. Bitcoin saw a surge this week, surpassing $73,000 before a slight dip, following the US government's decision to ease access for mainstream investors to the digital currency. Other cryptocurrencies like ether or ethereum have also experienced an increase in their value.
According to a survey conducted by the private Central American University (UCA) in January, only 12% of Salvadorans made transactions using bitcoin in 2023. Bukele has been working towards using bitcoin as a means to reduce the cost of overseas remittances and to increase the number of banked Salvadorans, as 70% of the population operates outside the traditional financial system.