El Salvador's Bitcoin-Friendly President Nayib Bukele Heads For Re-Election

El Salvador’s Bitcoin-Friendly President Nayib Bukele Heads For Re-Election

Updated: 05 February 2024

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Nayib Bukele, El Salvador’s bitcoin-friendly president, is on his way to another five-year term, according to exit polls that show he has an overwhelming lead after voting ended on Sunday.

“According to our numbers, we have won the presidential election with more than 85% of the votes and a minimum of 58 of 60 deputies in the Assembly,” said Bukele in a Feb. 5 X post.

Nayib Bukele Drives El Salvador’s Bitcoin Adoption

Bukele made an impact during his first term by cracking down on gang violence with mass incarcerations. He has also been a big advocate for Bitcoin (BTC). El Salvador passed a new law on Dec. 21 that provides foreign investors who make a Bitcoin donation a pathway to rapid citizenship.

The law will effectively allow qualifying individuals to bypass the conventional naturalization requirement of a five-year continuous residency for non-Hispanic country nationals, or a two-year residency for those married to a Salvadoran citizen.

🇸🇻 El Salvador Passes Law to Offer Citizenship to Foreign Bitcoin Investors

El Salvador‘s Congress has passed a new law enabling foreign citizens to obtain citizenship by investing in #Bitcoin.#CryptoNews https://t.co/3hCj6BXhK7

— Cryptonews.com (@cryptonews) December 22, 2023

In 2021, El Salvador also became the first nation to adopt BTC as legal tender. Although this move was applauded by Bitcoin enthusiasts, it also drew criticism from international organizations such as the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

El Salvador’s President Snaps Back At Critics

In a Dec. 4 X post, Bukele hit back at critics who had ridiculed the country’s decision to purchase BTC. He revealed that if the country were to sell its BTC back then, it would have made a profit of approximately $3.6 million.

On the day of the post, BTC was able to climb from $41,631 to $41,929. Currently, the crypto is trading at $43,152.83 as of 5:10 am EST, according to CoinMarketCap data.

El Salvador's #Bitcoin investments are in the black!

After literally thousands of articles and hit pieces that ridiculed our supposed losses, all of which were calculated based on #Bitcoin’s market price at the time…

With the current #Bitcoin market price, if we were to sell… pic.twitter.com/gvl2GfQMfb

— Nayib Bukele (@nayibbukele) December 4, 2023

Despite this, he revealed that El Salvador has no intention of selling its Bitcoin. Bukele added that the country anticipates short-term fluctuations in BTC’s price, but said, “this doesn’t affect our long-term strategy.”

He also urged those who published “hit pieces” criticizing the country’s BTC investments to retract their statements and offer apologies.