In cash terms, El Salvador's Bitcoin buys have cost $73.2 million — but at the time of writing, this BTC is worth a mere $60.7 million.
El Salvador has made a substantial loss on its Bitcoin investment over the past four months.
President Nayib Bukele has been aggressively buying crypto ever since adopting BTC as legal tender in September 2021.
Sudden falls in Bitcoin's value have regularly been accompanied by Bukele declaring that the Central American country was "buying the dip" — and at the time of writing, it holds 1,391 BTC in reserve.
In cash terms, El Salvador's Bitcoin buys have cost $73.2 million — but at the time of writing, this BTC is worth a mere $60.7 million, resulting in a loss of more than $12 million.
Most acquisitions were completed when BTC was trading above $50,000 — a stark contrast to the current price of $43,700.
Unfortunately, there's a lot we don't know when it comes to El Salvador's investment. Finance minister Alejandro Zelaya has said the country has actually converted some of its Bitcoin back into dollars — but we don't know when these transactions took place… and how much BTC was sold.
To compound the problem, the address where El Salvador's crypto is held isn't publicly known, making it difficult to track when buys and sells are made.
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How is MicroStrategy Doing?
El Salvador isn't the only one buying the dip — MicroStrategy is another big name that has regularly taken the opportunity to top up its Bitcoin balance.
As of late December 2021, the business intelligence firm held 124,391 BTC — paying a total of $3.75 billion.
At current price, this BTC stash is worth $5.42 billion, an increase of about 44%.
In a curious turn of events, the Bitcoin that MicroStrategy currently owns is actually worth more than the company itself.
MicroStrategy — whose CEO is Michael Saylor — has been especially aggressive when it comes to investing in Bitcoin, raising debt through junk bonds in order to boost its purchasing power.
Saylor has won countless fans in crypto circles for declaring that he would never sell the company's Bitcoin — nonetheless, MicroStrategy could end up in hot water if BTC's price falls further.
The magic number to keep an eye on is $30,153. MicroStrategy would start nursing a loss if Bitcoin falls below this level, something that could prove problematic given the company's debt commitments.
