El Salvador Dismisses Bitcoin Losses
The government of El Salvador is being criticized for the bet that its president, Nayib Bukele, has made on bitcoin, purchasing more than 2,300 BTC for the treasury of the country.
“There is a lot of fuss about our Bitcoin strategy, they speculate with an alleged loss of $40 million that has not occurred, because we have not sold the coins, they have not been disposed of.”
In an earlier interview, Zelaya had also stated these coins purchased were not to be sold at a loss, and that they were going to wait until the price reached higher numbers.
The treasury minister of El Salvador complained about media coverage on this issue, noting that reports had been biased due to the position that some media outlets have on bitcoin.
Biased Media Coverage
“I have even seen Deutsche Welle, with all due respect, I have seen biased reports, it says that El Salvador is being dragged down by a fiscal risk of $40 million. Oh my God! Our General Budget of the Nation is almost $8,000 million; $40 million does not represent even 0.5% of our budget.”
However, to Zelaya, this is proof that some of these media outlets have animosity towards bitcoin which is also affecting El Salvador as the first country to adopt it as legal tender.
Even with the current unrealized losses on this bitcoin investment, the appreciation that Salvadorans have for their president is mostly favorable, with Bukele’s administration earning more than eight points out of ten in two recent polls completed by different national universities.