El Salvador Accumulates 1,098 BTC Amid Market Dip
El Salvador has added more than 1,098 BTC in seven days as President Nayib Bukele doubles down on the nation’s daily Bitcoin purchasing strategy amid a broad market sell-off.
El Salvador is once again leaning into market weakness to expand its national Bitcoin reserves, continuing an accumulation strategy that has run uninterrupted since early 2024. Despite heightened volatility and accelerating panic-selling among traders, the country purchased more than 1,098 BTC in the past week, according to figures shared by its Bitcoin Office.
President Nayib Bukele published a screenshot on X highlighting the government’s updated Bitcoin treasury balance, which now totals 7,474.37 BTC, valued at roughly $688 million based on current market levels. The latest purchases included 1,091 BTC added on Tuesday alone, a move worth nearly $100 million.
The renewed buying spree reinforces El Salvador’s position as the world’s first nation to incorporate Bitcoin as legal tender—an initiative launched in September 2021 and still closely watched by global policymakers and financial institutions.
A Steady Accumulation Strategy Despite Market Turmoil
El Salvador has been acquiring 1 BTC per day since March 2024, a practice the government has framed as a disciplined, long-term strategy designed to strengthen national digital reserves. Officials have frequently emphasized that short-term price swings do not dictate the country’s approach.
The annual commemoration of the country’s Bitcoin Law approval, known as “Bitcoin Day”, has become a symbolic reminder of this stance. For the Bukele administration, Bitcoin continues to represent an asset with outsized future potential—even when markets trend downward.
Bitcoin as a Sovereign Hedge?
Market analysts say El Salvador’s consistent purchases, especially during downturns, illustrate a broader shift in how some governments evaluate digital assets.
André Dragosch, European Head of Research at Bitwise, noted that multiple sovereign entities have been “buying the dip,” suggesting emerging interest in Bitcoin as a long-term macro hedge rather than a speculative investment.
Stacy Herbert, the director of El Salvador’s Bitcoin Office, echoed this sentiment more ideologically, describing Bitcoin as a tool for financial autonomy.
“Bitcoin is the opposite of government control,” Herbert wrote on X, crediting Bukele for adopting Bitcoin “not to consolidate power, but to distribute it.”
Her comments reflect the administration’s belief that decentralized assets can modernize national financial systems while offering citizens more economic flexibility.
A Growing Global Trend: Nations and Corporations Add BTC Exposure
El Salvador is no longer the only government exploring digital assets. Earlier this month, the Czech National Bank (CNB) confirmed its first direct crypto purchase, acquiring $1 million in Bitcoin, stablecoins, and a tokenized bank deposit as part of a pilot research portfolio.
Meanwhile, corporate interest continues to rise outside the crypto-native sector. On October 31, U.S. restaurant chain Steak ’n Shake disclosed the creation of its own Bitcoin treasury program—an unusual move for a legacy food brand but one that aligns with a growing corporate diversification trend.
Institutional players such as MicroStrategy also remain active. On November 17, the company revealed it had purchased 8,178 BTC at an average price of $102,171, reaffirming its long-running strategy of accumulating Bitcoin at scale.
Bitcoin Price Drops Sharply as Short-Term Holders Panic
El Salvador’s buying spree coincides with a deepening market pullback. Asian trading hours on November 18 opened with Bitcoin dropping below $90,000, a decline of 4.91% in 24 hours to around $90,708, according to CoinMarketCap.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is hovering near $91,000, still under pressure from a rapid unwinding of short-term positions.
Addresses holding BTC for fewer than three months offloaded 148,000 BTC at a loss, marking the largest capitulation event among short-term holders since April 2025. Analysts point to this wave of forced selling as the primary driver behind the sharp intra-day correction.
Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder of Gemini, publicly suggested that the sub-$90,000 level could represent a major opportunity.
He told investors on X that Bitcoin under $90,000 might be “a last chance to buy,” as the drop briefly erased the asset’s gains for 2025 and reignited debate over where the current market cycle sits.
Can Long-Term Buyers Absorb the Sell-Off?
El Salvador’s roughly $100 million purchase on Tuesday briefly steadied sentiment but could not fully offset broader de-risking flows across global markets. Traders are now watching whether long-term holders—and institutional balance-sheet buyers—will absorb BTC at discounted prices.
Historically, long-term holders tend to accumulate aggressively during sharp drawdowns, creating supply floors that support later recoveries. However, the scale of the recent short-term capitulation is testing the market’s resilience.
El Salvador’s Bet: Staying the Course
For El Salvador, the volatility appears to have changed little. The government continues to frame Bitcoin as both a technological innovation and a strategic national asset. Its accumulation strategy—slow, steady, and indifferent to price—has become a defining feature of its economic policy.
As global financial actors increasingly explore digital asset exposure, El Salvador remains determined to position itself as a first mover. Whether the market finds a new equilibrium at these levels will shape how quickly that long-term vision can yield visible results.
But for now, the country shows no signs of stepping back from its role as the world’s first—and most committed—“Bitcoin Country.”
