SAN SALVADOR (Reuters) – El Salvador has bought its first 200 bitcoins, President Nayib Bukele said on Monday, one day before the country formally adopts the cryptocurrency as legal tender.
“Our brokers will be buying a lot more as the deadline approaches,” Bukele said on Twitter.
El Salvador is due to legalize bitcoin on Sept. 7, a move that the popular Bukele said will save Salvadorans living abroad millions of dollars in commissions on money they send home.
But polls show Salvadorans are skeptical about using bitcoin, wary of the volatility of the cryptocurrency that critics say could increase regulatory and financial risks for financial institutions.
(Reporting by Shubham Kalia in Bengaluru and Nelson Renteria in San Salvador; Editing by Sandra Maler)
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