El Salvador’s crypto-friendly President Nayib Bukele, 42, is set to govern for another five years taking near-total control of parliament.
President Bukele took the oath of office at the National Palace in San Salvador this weekend. During the ceremony, he received the presidential blue and white sash from Ernesto Castro, the President of the Legislative Assembly. The whole ceremony was broadcast live and many Salvadorans gathered to cheer for the President.
Over the years, the young President has shown support for crypto and it has been revealed that El Salvador has much more Bitcoin than previous estimates when President Bukele posted on X that the country has moved over 5,000 bitcoins worth over $400 million into a cold wallet.
Oficialmente, @nayibbukele es el Presidente de la República de El Salvador para el periodo 2024 – 2029.#InvestiduraPresidencial pic.twitter.com/idcypyt2Jf
— Casa Presidencial 🇸🇻 (@PresidenciaSV) June 1, 2024
Donald Trump Jr. arrived in El Salvador to attend the inauguration. He congratulated the President on winning a second term and joked about not having to imprison his political opponents. To which President Bukele responded, “we don’t jail political opponents here.”
I congratulated President @nayibbukele this morning for winning a second term and not even having to try to imprison his political opponents!
Bukele said “we don’t jail political opponents here.”
Incredible concept! pic.twitter.com/Ok604ouMA4
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 3, 2024
Many crypto enthusiasts took to the social media platform X to congratulate President Bukele on a decisive victory for the 2024-2029 term.
Leadership under a Bitcoin Standard looks like this.👇
-Young
-Smart
-Fit
-PatrioticBukele is Proof of Work— Cheers to 5 more years. God bless El Salvador 🇸🇻🧡 pic.twitter.com/rQd4yv5OwY
— Cory Bates (@corybates1895) June 1, 2024
El Salvador’s Bitcoin Adoption
In September 2021 El Salvador became the first nation to use bitcoin as legal tender when bitcoin was trading around $51,000. The move aimed to foster financial inclusion, streamline remittance payments, and promote financial innovation.
During the early days of adoption, President Nayib Bukele’s decision faced criticism, particularly after bitcoin’s price plunged from its all-time high of $69,000 in November 2021. El Salvador has remained steadfast in its bitcoin strategy. Today bitcoin is trading at around $68,400.
In May, El Salvador introduced a cutting-edge online platform for tracking the country’s Bitcoin Treasury. The introduction of the platform is a significant step towards enhancing the financial transparency of government operations in El Salvador. The website, akin to a mempool, offers public access to data regarding El Salvador’s BTC investments