El Salvador President Nayib Bukele is continuing his "one bitcoin a day" accumulation strategy as bitcoin prices rebound. His aggressive bottom-fishing during the 2025 cryptocurrency market crash has renewed attention on his "Bitcoin President" nickname.
"Bought Even During the Crash"... The Bitcoin President's Determination
The El Salvador government held 7,643 bitcoins as of May this year, according to Spanish-language outlet Infobae on Tuesday. The total acquisition cost stands at approximately $622.3 million (about 900 billion won).
Bukele's bitcoin bet began in 2021. He drew international attention by becoming the first in the world to adopt bitcoin as legal tender.
Bitcoin was trading at around $47,000 per coin at the time. When the cryptocurrency market collapsed in 2022, the El Salvador government absorbed hundreds of millions of dollars in unrealized losses, but Bukele instead moved to buy more.
In July 2022, when bitcoin fell to around $19,000, he purchased an additional 80 bitcoins and posted on his social media, "Thanks for selling cheap."
This accumulation continued through the 2025 "bitcoin crash." Last November, the El Salvador government purchased approximately 1,090 additional bitcoins over a week. While the market coined the term "Great Bitcoin Crash of 2025," Bukele instead went on an aggressive bottom-buying spree.
He posted a holdings chart on social media with the message "Hooah!" At the time, El Salvador's total holdings surpassed 7,474.
Accumulation Continues Despite IMF Clash... "Buying One a Day"
The issue is the conflict with the International Monetary Fund (IMF). El Salvador received a $1.4 billion bailout from the IMF late last year. At the time, the IMF effectively demanded that the country scale back its public-sector bitcoin policy and halt the expansion of government holdings.
But the El Salvador government continued buying bitcoin afterward. The government purchased an additional 1,633 bitcoins over 16 months from January last year through April this year, and has been steadily adding one bitcoin a day to its holdings until recently.
The IMF said in a statement at the time that it would "assess at an appropriate time whether El Salvador is complying with program commitments."
However, public adoption has not been as high as expected. Approximately 90% of citizens still do not use bitcoin in daily life, according to local reports.
Still, use in overseas remittances is growing. Overseas remittances through cryptocurrency wallets reached $17.38 million in the first quarter of this year, up 49.7% from the same period last year.
"War on Crime, War with Bitcoin"... 90% Approval Rating
Bukele is known not only for his bitcoin policy but also for his hardline security measures.
Through massive gang crackdowns, he has sharply reduced the crime rate, which was once among the highest in Latin America. He established the mega-prison CECOT (Terrorism Confinement Center) and imprisoned large numbers of cartel members, though the process has sparked ongoing human rights controversies.
As the crime reduction effects have become clearly visible, his approval rating is reported to hover around 90%.
The move to accumulate bitcoin as a national asset is not unique to El Salvador.
Bhutan is known to hold bitcoin worth about 30% of its gross domestic product (GDP) through mining operations powered by hydroelectric power.
The United States is also pursuing a national-level bitcoin holding strategy, with President Donald Trump signing an executive order last year to establish a "Strategic Bitcoin Reserve" using seized bitcoin.
