Updated 06 Dec, 2021

El Salvador’s Bukele Defends Bitcoin as He Spars with Peter Schiff

Vectors of bloxing gloves, with Bitcoin Logo and El Salvador's Flag pumping together. El Salvador’s Bukele Defends Bitcoin as He Spars with Peter Schiff

Key Takeaways:

  • El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele tells gold bug Peter Schiff bitcoin is better than gold
  • In a sparring session on Twitter, the two exchanged arguments over bitcoin as an investment

Naiyb Bukele Spars with Peter Schiff over Bitcoin

Nayib Bukele, the President of bitcoin-friendly El Salvador, and Peter Schiff, a long-time gold supporter, entered into a sparring session on Twitter.

On Saturday, the cryptocurrency market dived with bitcoin’s price losing about 20% in a single day to hit $42,000. Before the day ended, however, the world’s biggest cryptocurrency had recovered more than half of what it lost earlier and finished the day near $50,000. In comparison, the orange coin opened the day with a price of $54,000 per token.

That’s when El Salvador’s President Nayib Bukele stepped in and bought the dip in bitcoin. In more detail, Mr. Bukele revealed on Twitter he had invested about $7 million to buy 150 bitcoin at an average price of $48,670 apiece. However, criticism from an outspoken gold bug followed shortly after. More specifically, Peter Schiff, known for his dislike of cryptocurrency, asked Mr. Bukele “how much taxpayer money” he intended “to waste.”

El Salvador Could Have Made $125 Million if It Held BTC and Not Gold

The Salvadoran president was quick to reply – “None.” He went further to give an explanation of how his country operated with its bitcoin vs gold reserves.

“We’re already in the green from our last purchase, in less than 24 hours,” Nayib Bukele said. “You know boomer, we have 44,106 oz of gold in our reserves. Worth $79 million, down 0.37% from a year ago.” The Bitcoin-friendly President cited gold’s performance over the past 12 months, which yields a negative return to date. In contrast, the return on bitcoin from last December is roughly 180% to the current market price of about $50,000.

“If we had sold it a year ago and bought Bitcoin, it would now be valued at $204 million,” he commented. In other words, the country would have made a profit of $125 million in a year if it had converted its gold into bitcoin. In that context, El Salvador was the first country to make bitcoin legal tender in September. Now, alongside the US dollar, people in the Latin American country could freely operate with bitcoin in their daily activities.