El Salvador Is Building 20 New Schools. With Bitcoin Profits?

Amidst criticisms of the implementation of Bitcoin in the country, El Salvador President Nayib Bukele has declared that his government will use the profits made from Bitcoin to build new schools in the country. 

It was only a couple of months ago that El Salvador's policy to make Bitcoin a legal tender in the country came into force. The move, hailed by cryptocurrency enthusiasts, was equally criticized for the way it was implemented. Noteworthy among the critics was none other than, Vitalik Buterin, the founder of the cryptocurrency platform, Ethereum. 

Responding to a Reddit thread, Buterin called the forced implementation of a single type of crypto coin, "contrary to the ideals of freedom" important to crypto space. Buterin wasn't sour that his Ethereum did not enjoy the same status as Bitcoin in the country but went on to make an important point that pushing Bitcoin to millions without "an attempt at prior education was reckless" and put a large number of people at risk of being scammed. 

Bukele, however, is firm on his resolve and the country has further added to its Bitcoin reserves, with another round of purchase coming just last week. 

It was a long wait, but worth it.

We just bought the dip!

420 new #Bitcoin??

— Nayib Bukele ?? (@nayibbukele) October 27, 2021

With this purchase, El Salvador's wallet now holds 1,120 Bitcoin, worth over $66 million, CryptoBriefing reported.

In a thread, Bukele went on to further explain how the country makes profits from its crypto transactions.

How do we make a profit if 1 #BTC= 1 #BTC?

We have a trust fund accounted in USD, but the trust is funded by both USD and BTC.

When the BTC part revalues in comparison to the accounting currency (USD), we are able to withdraw some USD and leave the trust with the same total.

— Nayib Bukele ?? (@nayibbukele) October 27, 2021

The country used these 'profits' to open a pet hospital, called Chivo Pets, a reference to the Chivo wallet, where the government also deposited $30 worth of Bitcoin to get everybody started. 

Speaking at the inauguration of the pet hospital, Bukele reportedly said that the country was making more profits out of the fund now and as a result, the government could finance 20 schools, using these profits. 

The Press Secretary later confirmed the same on Twitter. 

#ChivoPets | “Cuando se hizo este proyecto no habíamos ganado tanto dinero en el FIDEBITCOIN como hemos ganado ahora. Así que hemos decidido hacer las 20 primeras Escuelas Bitcóin”: Presidente de la República, @nayibbukele. pic.twitter.com/PsQPlMcda9

— Secretaría de Prensa de la Presidencia (@SecPrensaSV) November 2, 2021

Disclaimer: Some members of the IE team, including editors of this article, have personally invested in a number of cryptocurrency and stock markets. However, their private investment viewpoints have no impact on editorial content.