Facepalm: Yesterday was the first day that El salvador adopted Bitcoin every bit an official currency, and what happened? BTC crashed to its lowest indicate in near a month, from $52,000 to under $43,000. But President Nayib Bukele was far from worried; he took reward of the autumn to purchase an extra 150 Bitcoins, increasing the country's holdings to around 550 in total, worth about $25 million.

Just a few months after adopting Bitcoin as legal tender, it became an official currency of Republic of el salvador yesterday. It's hoped that the move volition make it easier for the huge number of El Salvadorians living abroad to transport money home to their families—the government says Bitcoin could save the country $400 million per twelvemonth in transaction fees, though the BBC believes this to be closer to $170 million—and with three-quarters of the population lacking a bank account, proponents say adopting Bitcoin will facilitate quick money transfers.

Simply not everyone in El salvador thinks moving to Bitcoin is a good idea. In that location accept been protests over its adoption, with many citing its volatile nature as a reason to be wary. These naysayers probable felt justified yesterday when Bitcoin dipped by effectually 15% to nether $43,000. BTC has rebounded slightly since then and is hovering shut to $45,000 at the time of writing.

Ane of Bukele's opponents said the drop caused Republic of el salvador to lose $3 million, but the president took a unlike view, tweeting that the country was "Buying the Dip"—taking advantage of the lower price by ownership more. It has at present added 150 Bitcoins to the 400 information technology already held. "We saved a million in printed paper," Bukele wrote.

Forbes writes that the price drib began when Republic of el salvador'due south wallet organisation experienced difficulties upon its debut. "Heightened trading volume and then fueled speculation about institutions selling off large stakes and fifty-fifty triggered brief outages and trading delays on many of the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges," the publication explains.

Users on Twitter and Reddit were urged to buy $30 worth of Bitcoin yesterday to celebrate the crypto'due south adoption past El Salvador. Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown, says that "a "pump and dump scenario is partly playing out."

Image credit: Hi my name is Jacco