El Salvador’s Bitcoin Gamble Pays Off—$357M Profit as BTC Nears All-Time High

Nayib Bukele’s controversial Bitcoin bet finally looks genius—or at least lucky. With BTC surging toward record highs, El Salvador’s treasury is sitting on a $357 million paper profit from its national crypto holdings.

Who’s laughing now? The IMF, Wall Street analysts, and every skeptic who called it a ‘reckless dollar gamble’ are watching as the small nation’s unorthodox strategy flips the script. Turns out, hodling works—even for sovereign nations.

Bonus jab: Meanwhile, traditional finance still can’t decide if crypto is a ‘fraud’ or an ‘asset class’—maybe after another 10 years of debate, they’ll catch up.

From volatility to victory: The ROI of conviction

El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele shared on X (formerly Twitter) that their Bitcoin stash is now up over $357 million in unrealized profits, with the total value topping $644 million.

Backing that up was an initial $287 million buy-in. It means they scooped BTC at around $46,433 per coin. That places their accumulation right between late 2023 and early 2024.

Why does it matter? In under two years, the country’s bitcoin investment has surged 124.39% in profit, proving that long-term conviction can pay off big in crypto.

Source: X

Sure, El Salvador isn’t the only entity seeing major returns. Corporates like MicroStrategy (MSTR) have reported similar BTC-driven portfolio surges. But for a nation-state, the stakes are far greater.

Despite international skepticism and repeated pressure from institutions like the IMF, El Salvador has stuck to its Bitcoin strategy. 

And now, with profits stacking up, their position offers a compelling case study: Bitcoin’s volatility is no longer the barrier it once was to sovereign adoption.

Reframing risk: Bitcoin’s volatility as a strategic advantage

Volatility has long been the red flag for sovereign reserves — too risky, too unstable, and way outside the comfort zone of central banks.

But El Salvador is flipping that script. As mentioned above, with an average entry around $46,000, the country is now sitting on a 124% return in under two years. It is a performance that puts most traditional reserve assets to shame.

Even Gold [XAU], the go-to SAFE haven for governments, returned just 59% in the same period.

Source: Goldprice.org

Clearly, Bitcoin’s volatility isn’t a weakness anymore. Instead, it’s a strategic edge. An edge that smart money is starting to leverage. 

As conviction builds and supply tightens, aggressive profit-taking is fading into the background, bringing the market closer than ever to a new all-time high.