Nayib Bukele, the president of El Salvador, has announced that his country has drilled an additional five million USD into Bitcoin (BTC). In a Tweet, Bukele announced the addition of 100 BTCs into the country’s Bitcoin bags. The purchase coincided with BTC’s price dropping below $54K on Friday.
Notably, the price dip was also witnessed in other traditional markets such as stocks, with observers attributing the global drop across sectors to fears of a new coronavirus variant.
According to analysts, the “variant is out-competing others *far* faster than” previous variants such as Beta and Delta.
While observing that the leading cryptocurrency’s price is 20 percent below its all-time high of $69K, Bukele noted the 100 BTCs were “acquired with a discount.” Since the Central American country adopted Bitcoin as legal tender in September, it has been buying BTC during price slumps.
The Salvadoran president ignited the Bitcoin buying spree with 200 BTC coins on September 7. Subsequent purchases have netted El Salvador more than 1,200 Bitcoins.
El Salvador Now Holds Over 1,200 BTCs Worth More Than $65 Million
At the current exchange rate of $54,422, the country’s Bitcoin stash is worth more than 65 million USD. El Salvador’s Bitcoin purchases have also been accompanied by several initiatives to increase Bitcoin adoption in the Central American nation.
For example, Bukele recently revealed plans to construct Bitcoin City funded by BTC bonds worth one billion USD.
Also, Bukele announced the construction of Bitcoin Schools that would offer cryptocurrency education to locals. While the Salvadoran president’s Bitcoin initiatives appealed to BTC supporters, anti-BTC Salvadorans have in the past taken to the streets to protest the crypto moves.
The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has also been against El Salvador adopting Bitcoin as legal tender.
This week, the IMF said that the leading cryptocurrency “should not be used as a legal tender” because its “high price volatility” threatens financial integrity, stability, and “consumer protection.”
According to the IMF, the Central American country should review its Bitcoin law and reduce its “scope.” It added that El Salvador needs to put stricter rules to govern “the new payment ecosystem.”
China Shuts Down Crypto News Websites, Mining Pools Report Connectivity Problems
Interestingly, the comments came a day after Bukele disclosed plans to launch Bitcoin City. According to the Salvadoran president, IMF’s “analysis” of El Salvador “is interesting. “
As the Central American country sets its eyes on the Bitcoin price dip, China is actualizing its warning over cryptocurrency news outlets and Bitcoin mining pools.
ChainNews, a leading crypto news website in China, has bowed to regulatory pressure. Feng Liu, its co-founder, had hinted about the closure through his WeChat moments.
On November 15, ChainNews said it would post news on its official Twitter and Telegram outlets as the site undergoes maintenance for up to 10 hours.
However, on November 17, the site was still down. Last week, other Chinese-based crypto news and information outlets such as Odaily and Block123 also went dark.
Speaking to Coindesk, Odaily said it’s in the process of launching a new platform with a new URL. The closure of crypto news websites comes roughly two months after the country’s central bank, The People’s Bank of China, released a list of prohibited cryptocurrency activities.
It’s a DNS Pollution, but a VPN Can Work
A translated section of the warning noted that “competent authorities of network information shall promptly shut down internet applications such as websites, mobile applications, and small programs that carry out virtual currency-related business activities.”
Apart from news sites, China recently said that it’s working on making it harder for crypto miners to conduct their businesses in the country. Among the proposals is to increase electricity costs. However, the measures may have gone beyond energy costs.
For example, on November 26, several leading Bitcoin mining pools started reporting connectivity issues. Some of them include F2pool, ViaBTC, and Binance Pool.
An analysis has pointed to a “pollution” in the pools’ DNS (domain name system). Interestingly, the DNS pollution seems only to affect Chinese miners. According to a former executive at one of the affected crypto mining pools, Chinese regulators are likely to have a hand in the service disruption.
Most Bitcoin pools have said that they’ll be winding down their Chinese operations before year-end. In the meantime, some have advised users to adjust their DNS or use a virtual private network or VPN to beat the set restrictions.