El Salvador bought dips in both Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) and gold on Thursday, doubling down on its unique strategy of building reserves in both assets simultaneously.
El Salvador Stacks Up Yellow Metal
El Salvador’s Central Reserve Bank said it purchased 9,298 ounces of gold worth $50 million, boosting total reserves to 67,403 ounces valued at $360 million.
The Banco Central de Reserva said that the acquisition consolidates its “long-term equity” and helps maintain a “prudent balance” in the composition of its foreign reserves.
President Nayib Bukele cheered the purchase, writing, “We just bought this other dip.”
Bitcoin Buys Continue Uninterrupted
The gold purchase coincided with the country’s ongoing accumulation of Bitcoin. Data from El Salvador’s National Bitcoin Office showed 1 BTC added to the stockpile on Thursday, and a total of 7 BTC over the last week, in line with its “one Bitcoin per day” policy.
The country’s national Bitcoin stockpile has grown to 7,547.37 BTC, worth $624.24 million at current prices. As of this writing, it is the fifth-largest government holder of Bitcoin, according to bitcointreasuries.net, behind the U.S., China, and the UK.
El Salvador became the first country to adopt the leading digital asset as its legal tender in 2021 and has continued to add more regardless of price swings or global market volatility.
The International Monetary Fund had asked El Salvador to halt public sector Bitcoin purchases as part of a $1.4 billion funding deal earlier this year. While the country tweaked its Bitcoin law and made the acceptance of Bitcoin voluntary rather than mandatory, it hasn’t stopped its purchases, as the country’s primary currency.
Gold, Bitcoin Fall
The purchases come after both Bitcoin and gold recorded declines. Spot gold’s record-shattering rally reversed, dragging it down 3.97% to $5,158.54 an ounce.
The apex cryptocurrency tumbled below $82,000, hitting levels last seen in April.
Price Action: At the time of writing, BTC was exchanging hands at $82,387, down 6.56% in the last 24 hours, according to data from Benzinga Pro.
Image via Shutterstock
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